Gundam SEED: Mercenary Effect
by DragonKnightRyu
Summary: It's been twelve years since Humanity united, and now their gaze turns towards the stars and what lay beyond, the time has come. Humanity is about to take the stage.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer** : None of us own Gundam SEED or Mass Effect

 **Prologue: Earth Sphere Alliance, Fenrir, and the Relays**

* * *

"Alright class, it's time to settle down!" a teacher called out to her class as she walked into the room, an irritated scowl on her face as she observed the chaos that the pre-teens were causing. "I hope You all managed to complete your homework to my expectation."

The class stilled as a couple of students ducked their heads in shame as she tapped a few keys on her desk to display the day's lesson on the student's individual desk screen and the main display at the front of the class. "We will be covering recent history today," the teacher declared as she adjusted the half frame glasses that rested on her face. "Picking up from where we left off yesterday with the formation of the Earth Sphere Alliance."

She looked over the class with a critical eye before locking onto a particular student. "Jonathan!" she called out, making a student in the back row jerk as he hurriedly hid the book he was reading instead of paying attention. "Can you tell me what the first action the Earth Sphere Alliance took upon their formation?"

"U-uhh," the embarrassed student stuttered as he tried to think of the answer. "They allowed the Mars Colonists a seat of their own in the Alliance, in return for allowing access to the ruins found on Mars."

The teacher studied him for a moment before nodding. "Glad to see you were paying attention, please continue to do so," she commented before continuing on with the lesson. "Now, in order to get to Mars in a more time and cost efficient manner, the Alliance commission Aeolia Schenberg of Terminal - who had joined the Alliance as their special operations group, Kira Hisanaga of Fenrir, along with some of the brightest minds within the Alliance to create a method of travel between the planet's, leading to the creation of sub-light drives."

A silver-haired boy elbowed a brown-haired boy in the back of the class. The boy rolled his amethyst colored eyes in response. "Shiro," the teacher called out as she saw the byplay. "Perhaps you can explain the next major breakthrough made after sublight drives?"

"Biotics, Miss Kors," Shiro Hisanaga replied without hesitation. "Which were caused by unborn children being exposed to the dust-form of elemental Zero - or Eezo."

The teacher nodded. "Then perhaps Itsuki could explain what was found in the ruins on Mars?" the teacher questioned the eldest child of Jinn and Hanami.

"A bunch of Prothean ruins and a cache of data, Miss Kors!" Itsuki quickly replied.

"Correct, but a rather… limited response," the teacher replied smoothly. "Fiora, can you expand?"

"Eh?" a girl with red hair and eyes replied in surprise. "Uhh… well we they also discovered that there was something called the Relay system throughout the Galaxy with one of the Relay's being within the moon Charon."

Itsuki pouted.

"Correct," Kors informed, nodding in approval. "Now… Alexandria, can you tell me why we had not begun exploring the galaxy then?"

A black haired, green eyed girl whose leg bounced with contained energy, frowned slightly at her full name but replied anyways. "Because of the remnants of Blue Cosmos and Zala's extremists," she said with a grimace. "With the Zala's extremist almost succeeding in dropping the remains of Junius Seven on the Earth, the Earth Sphere Alliance and Fenrir made eliminating them and Blue Cosmos their top priority."

"I'm just glad they're not around anymore," Itsuki muttered. "Still, our parents rule!"

"Yes, yes, we all remember bring your parents to work day," Kors sighed, remembering _that_ particular day that included - and wasn't limited to - several explosions, mobile suits, a _terrorist attack_ , a rolled up newspaper and flying cutlery. "We don't need a repeat of _that_."

Itsuki, Alexandria, or just Alex to her friends and family, Shiro and a pink haired, green eyed girl with many physical similarities to Shiro had smug looks on their faces at that particular memory. Fiora noticed the looks and shot them withering glares that they simply shrugged off.

"Dad was pretty peeved about that day," Karen Hisanaga commented with a giggle. "More about that he wasn't here rather than it happened."

"Back to the subject," Kors called out loudly, firing a glare at her more… _unruly_ students, why did she agree to this job again? Especially with a practically all-star class of Fenrir kids? "Can anyone tell me what happened immediately after the war?"

Eager to make up for his lackluster answer before, Itsuki raised his hand. "The new governments of the world met here in this colony and signed the Treaty of Mendel, combining them all into the Earth Sphere Alliance!"

"Correct, Itsuki," Kors informed with a nod. "Now, with the formation of the the Earth Sphere Alliance and the elimination of the remaining extremist factions underway, can anyone tell me any major events that has happened between here and now?"

Karen raised her hand almost right away in response. "Former President James Henderson stepped down as the President of the Earth Alliance and became the Commander in Chief of the E.S.A's armed forces," she explained. "In his place former MS Pilot Michelle King was elected as President."

Kors nodded. "Very good," she said.

Alex raised her own hand with an eager grin. "Well, with the war's end, many of the major military manufacturing companies have began to work together as a show of unity to help each other develop new mobile suits," she said with a happy grin. "Morgenroete has begun production on a few units, the M1 Astray along with several variants, which were already nearing completion, this led to the production of the M2 Astray, meant for the use of ace pilots, the Murasame, a mass produced transformable model, and the MAF-01 Yoroi, a DRAGOON-use mobile armor that's used for defending the the fleets."

Kors opened her mouth to make a comment, only for the excited student to continue on. "Of course the Earth Alliance has also begun production on their own advanced mobile armors, like the Gells-Ghe, and the Zamza-zah," Alex's eyes were gleaming as she talked about her passion. "And then they have the Windams, an advanced version of the rapidly aging Dagger units. Of course ZAFT would be left behind and with assistance they began to develop the ZAKU unit, taking cues from the EA and ORB in making use of a 'backpack' system to allow versatility in its loadout before launching onto the battlefield. The Earth Sphere alliance-"

"Alright, that's enough!" Miss Kors interrupted with a loud groan, massaging her temples. "This stuff isn't in the curriculum at all, and I know next to nothing about advances in the field of giant fighting robots… Kids, go easy on me, I didn't grow up in the military like you did…"

Several of the kids, notably those whose parents worked in Fenrir began to chuckle in amusement at the teacher's frustration. "Alright, alright, now settle down," she called out. "Open your terminals to page 431, we'll start with the recent laws passed by the Earth Sphere Alliance."

As she spoke the students pulled up the required page focusing on the lesson for the day.

* * *

Kira worried her lower lip as she stared at the streams of data, running along the screen before her in the Deep Space Observational/Research Satellite Fenrir owned for many of their more… secretive projects. Including the one that the majority of Fenrir's upper echelon was now gathered for, the first mode of Faster-Than-Light travel.

"Drive is stable," Ryu announced as he kept a careful eye on the readout screens, Jinn was next to him ensuring all the calculations were spot on, Sentry doing his own double checks. "Power flow within acceptable ranges… I think we are a go."

He looked over to Kira who nodded and activated the communication device. " _Meili_ , your mission is a go," she announced to the temporary crew of the Experimental Destroyer, made up of the engineers and scientists who worked on the ship and the Faster-Than-Light drive.

Although most of the creators call it the Slipspace Drive, due to the drive opening a hole in 'Slipspace' to travel through in a faster period of time than Sublight engines.

" _Understood, control,_ " came the reply from the _Meili_. " _Heading out now._ "

Ryu bit the inside of his cheek as he watched the ship drift out of port, several screens flashing to life, one of them being the feed from a Satellite that had been set up near Europa, one of Jupiter's moon, and near the destination point for the _Meili_.

" _We are now clear of station, beginning warm up of the FTL Drive,_ " one of the ship's temporary crew informed as data started streaming across the screen, showing the data of the FTL drive. " _Drive is primed, we are entering Slipspace!_ "

Space seemed to tear open as the _Meili_ accelerated towards it sliding into the tear before it closed up.

"Receiving feed from Jupiter!" a tech reported as the feed showed a similar tear open and the Meili flew out.

"Meili _has arrived at Jupiter, FTL was successful!_ " the pilot shouted as cheers erupted in the control center.

"Nice work, _Meili_ ," Kira replied. "Recharge the drive and come home."

" _Roger that, Command,_ " the pilot informed. " _Spinning up the drive, making the trip home._ "

"Champagne is waiting to be opened and Hanami's cooking as we speak," Kira told them, garnering a cheer from the crew before the ship opened a new hole and began the trip back home.

"We did it," Ryu breathed as he stepped closer to his wife an arm slipping around her waist comfortingly. "Non Eezo based FTL."

Kira smiled back at him in return. "Yeah, we did," she returned giving him a kiss on the lips. "Come on, let's get the party ready."

* * *

"I'm almost done over here, Jinn-koi," a purple-eyed silverette called out as she flicked her pan, launching a half-finished egg roll out of it and catching it in mid-air with another pan in a way that caused it to roll up perfectly.

"Same here, Hanami-koi," a brown haired, green eyed male replied calmly as he tilted his head slightly, allowing a set of chopped onions to land in the pan of hash browns he was cooking. "Exciting day, huh?"

"Yeah…" Hanami smiled, glancing over at the exit of the kitchen at the dining area where she could tell that people were filing into. At the same time she dipped a spoon into a pot of beef stew to test it. "Mmm, I think I got it just right this time…"

"Even after these years you still doubt yourself," Jinn rolled his eyes as he took the hash browns off the burner and poured them into a bowl.

"I didn't get the softness I wanted last time!" Hanami flushed slightly, scooping up another spoonful and bouncing over to Jinn, pressing herself against his back and placing the spoon in front of his mouth. "Say aaaaah~"

Jinn chuckled as he obliged his wife's request and opened his mouth with an 'aaah' allowing her to deposit the stew into his mouth. "Perfect as always," he told her, leaning back against her. "Can you imagine if your younger self saw us right now?

"I'd be a stammering and blushing wreck," Hanami giggled. "We've come so far, grown so much more since then…"

"And I wouldn't change a single second of it," Jinn told her warmly as he turned around to kiss her. "I love you, Hanami-koi."

"I love you too, dear, but just for a moment since we still need to plate all this properly and get it ready to serve," Hanami gently stopped Jinn's progress towards claiming her lips for a moment to say before pulling him in to kiss.

"If I recall, _you_ were the one to start our kitchen adventures," he murmured after their kiss.

"Yes, yes and I've long grown out of those years since," Hanami rolled her eyes, smacking Jinn gently on the back. "Especially after the last time we spilled all that milk all over ourselves…"

"Oh you enjoyed cleaning that off me," Jinn countered, poking her gently in the side. "Not to mention most of it being yours."

Hanami actually blushed at that accusation as she smacked Jinn's back again. "That was only after you started fondling me… and I still blame you for making me so big I can't fit in most of my old clothes anymore. You and the kids."

Jinn chuckled in response. "As I recall you were quite vocal about keeping it up," he retorted teasingly. "Something along the lines of being 'totally worth it' sound familiar?"

Hanami's blush darkened slightly more. "It's a mixed feeling. On one hand I can only wear custom bras and they're hell on my back in gravity, but on the other you really like them…"

"They're a part of you," he told her as he kissed her forehead gently. "And I really like every inch of your body, tell you what, I'll massage your back tonight."

"I appreciate it…" Hanami involuntarily let out a throaty moan at the thought of it before she clapped her hand over her mouth. "Ooops," she whispered, glancing over at the door.

Jinn chuckled again. "They know better than to comment or even to listen in," he assured her before reluctantly pulling away from her. "But that can wait for tonight… You little closet pervert."

"I blame Kagami," Hanami said on autopilot as her expression softened. "Do you still miss having both of us around? Or have you gotten used to just… me?"

"I am very happy to have you, Hanami, if that is what you're worried about," he assured her. "But yes, I still have moments where I miss Kagami, she was our friend too after all."

"If it helps I still have her memories anyway, even if I'm not exactly her," the silverette smiled, nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

"I would never want you to be anything but yourself," he whispered into her ear. " _If_ we end up having another daughter, what do you feel about naming her after Kagami?"

"Itsuki, Shirayuri and Tsubaki not enough of a handful for you?" Hanami chuckled. "I wouldn't mind though…"

"Just saying if, dear," he assured her. "Lord knows those three are giving me grey hairs already."

"I swear the twins take more after Kagami than anything already," Hanami rolled her eyes. "And they're already starting to develop and get looks from the boys… Yukikaze genes indeed."

"Well, I'm not _too_ worried about them getting hurt," Jinn admitted with a grin. "I'm more worried for the ones who try anything after the girls are through with them, they _definitely_ got my mother's temper."

"Then again we're both famous enough that we intimidate any potential suitors anyway just by being nearby," Hanami let out a nervous laugh.

Jinn chuckled in agreement as her assisted her with loading up the carts with food. "Especially after what you did to that poor girl who thought I was single," he commented with a smirk in her direction.

"Ara… I don't know what you're talking about," Hanami smiled faux-innocently even as she glanced over at a frying pan with a significant dent in it, hanging in a rather prominent location over the other racks as if it were a trophy.

Jinn laughed in response to her denial. "Come on dear, let's feed the masses before they get _too_ desperate for your cooking," he told her as be began to push the first of several carts out.

"Yes dear," Hanami giggled, following along behind her husband.

Cheers erupted as they pushed the food out to the gathered members of 'Project Stargrasper' and allowed them to begin filling their plates with food. Once everyone had their plates loaded and settled into their seats Kira stood up and cleared her throat, bringing to everyone's attention to her.

"Everyone, thank you," she stated with a wide smile that was shared by everyone present. "It is thanks to everyone here that we now have a viable means of travel outside of the relay network that the Sol Council plans on Unveiling later this year, and with this new mode of travel we can get started on the true objective of Fenrir and prepare for the coming of the Reapers. But that can wait for tomorrow, today, we celebrate, cheers!"

The assorted members cheers in agreement as they all raised their glasses in salute before digging into their food.

* * *

 _ **One year later**_

* * *

"Everything is ready, Captain," a brown haired, orange eyed young man informed a dress uniformed man who nodded in agreement.

"Helmsmen, plot our course, bring us through the Sol Relay." He announced to the crew as the _Junius Seven_ , the first Eezo based ship created by the Sol Alliance lurched forward. "after years of war and infighting, we now stand here United and together, stepping forward into the future, let us go gentlemen."

With those words the exploration vessel was caught in the wake of the Mass Relay and launched millions of light years away from their home system.

 **END PROLOGUE**

 **DKR:** **Well we're back with the new story! I know it's a short start, but this was the basics of what we wanted to cover, I'm not quite sure if I put this in or not, but it's been about 12 years since the end of Life of a Mercenary.**


	2. Chapter 1: First Contact

**Disclaimer** : None of us own Gundam SEED or Mass Effect

 **Chapter One: First Contact**

* * *

Five years, that was how long it's been since Humanity took to exploring the stars in earnest, twenty years since mankind United under the banner of peace. Three months since the crew of the _Pathfinder_ -class ship, the SCN-212 ' _George Glenn_ ', had last laid their eyes on their beloved Earth, but that was the price of exploring the universe.

"How are things looking, Ensign Renin?" Captain Christa Silver, a middle aged woman of Germanic descent with lilac coloured eyes and had her silver hair pulled into a tight bun and wearing the white uniform of the captains of the Sol Council Navy, questioned the sensor operator of the _George Glenn_.

"Sensors are clear at the moment, Captain," Delilah Renin, a Hispanic woman in her late twenties with dusky coloured skin, her light brown eyes flicking across her data screens as she used a free hand to brush a strand of her bob cut black hair behind her ear. "I've marked several possible resource asteroid fields for the follow scanning by the fleet."

"That's good, keep at it," Christa affirmed with a nod and a smile.

"Hey, Irvine," the helmsman, Fredric Singer, one of the older crew members being almost 50 with salt and pepper coloured hair cut to military standards, his steel grey eyes flicking across assorted readout screens. "How are the engine readouts? I felt a bit of a stutter there."

"It's just one of the condensers acting up again, Fred," the youngest crew member onboard, Irvine Fennec, monitoring one of the readouts called out. He was a young Coordinator man with short brown hair of about 16 only. "Gotta take a look at it later."

"Please do," the pilot replied with a small mutter to himself.

"I got some food for us," the ship's second in command, a young man named Mike Schurig, announced as he walked in pushing a trolley of food.

Irvine made a face at the sight of the food. "I wish we could get stuff other than the usual rations though… I think I've lost my sense of smell and taste after so long eating that crap."

"Well, unfortunately, unlike the _Traveller_ -class Cruisers, we don't have a way to grow organic food and livestock," Christa replied as she accepted her plate of food. "So we have to make do with what we have until we rejoin the fleet proper next month."

"Blegh."

"Well, if you want five star meals, try and join Fenrir and the crew of the _Archangel,_ " Mike said with a small look of annoyance. "And good luck doing so."

"Huh?" Delilah asked, taking a careful look at her readouts. "Captain… I think I have something here."

"What is it?"

"Energy readings near the edge of the system," Delilah informed. "Consistent with a Mass Relay… and ships arriving near it."

"Move to level two battlestations," Christa snapped out authoritively. "Lower all power readings and activate the Mirage Colloid, once the message to fleet has been sent, initiate communication blackout, we are running silent."

The lights dimmed even as a quiet alarm began sounding, as the ship moved forward into the system, no longer alone out there. As the Mirage Colloid system activated, the ship began venting the particles out and seemingly melted into space, starting from the stern.

"We are silent, captain," Mike reported as he looked over the readouts. "Message has been sent, all that's left is to see what the new arrivals are here for."

"Ships look to still be coming through the relay," Delilah informed, staring at the terminals showing the sensor readings, which was rapidly filling up with purple blips of varying sizes indicating unknowns. "Reading well over 3000 ships, and the number is still climbing… weird, though, only a few of them are reading as combat-capable."

"That is _quite_ the fleet," Fredrick said with a low whistle. "Looks like they started scanning the asteroid fields."

"Have Pilot Hizashi prepped for launch," Christa ordered. "His Blitz R will be able to scout them out closer than we can."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Fleet transition continuing," reported the enviro-suit-clad sensor operator - then again, _everyone_ was wearing enviro-suits. "There were a few readings when we first arrived that looked to be a ship, but I'm not seeing them anymore."

"That happens every damn time we jump into a system anyway," another operator grumbled. "Need to find a replacement for that array… I remember it being around since my grandfather's time."

"Keep a close eye out anyways," another called out with an authoritative feminine voice. "Just because _we_ haven't charted this territory, doesn't mean somebody else hasn't."

"Yes ma'am," the second operator nodded, returning to monitoring his terminal attentively. "Sensors are showing several resource-rich asteroids in the nearby field. Plenty of iron and titanium."

"Send out the _Reyya_ and the _Qwib-Qwib_ to start gathering some resources," she ordered firmly. "Have the third patrol fleet set up a perimeter while the heavy fleet protects the civilians gathering materials, any sign of Eezo in the system?"

"Trace amounts of it have been detected in the nearby asteroids, ma'am."

"Better than nothing I guess," the captain sighed with a shake of her head. "Let's hope we can get some peace and quiet for a bit."

"I hear that," came the reply of the helmsman. "I swear, dodging Batarians every week or so is _not_ fun."

"Four eyed bastards," the weapon's operator growled. "Won't be happy till we all in chains."

"They won't be happy until _everyone_ is in chains," the helmsman remarked. "Seriously, why can't the Citadel Council see the galactic domination plot those guys have going."

" _Keelah_ , another sensor flicker!" the first sensor operator swore. "And I couldn't tell if it was a malfunction or what, it was over too fast!"

"Redeploy three ships from the Patrol Fleet to inspect the area the flicker originated from," the captain ordered. "All other ships are to move to alert status."

"Should we recall the civilians, ma'am?" the second operator quickly asked.

"No, keep the collection going for now," she ordered. "It _might_ be nothing after all, and we need those resources."

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded and returned to his terminal.

"They've passed," Mike informed in a soft tone as the alien ships finished scanning the area they had launched the Blitz R from. "Impressive being able to detect us for the brief moment of launching the mobile suit."

"We had to drop the Mirage Colloid over the hangar for a moment after all," Irvine frowned. "Their ships look really patchy…"

"Yeah," Delilah remarked. "I think those ships are _old_ \- centuries old, perhaps, and held together with nothing more than spit, wire, and wishes."

"If that's true, they've been plying the reaches of space since long before we even got off the Earth…" Irvine frowned.

"Keep recording everything," Christa said calmly. "It'll be on the Admiral on if we initiate first contact."

"On it," Delilah informed. "Once Hizashi gets to the fleet, I'd like to see if he can hook up to their computers without them noticing - we could use the intel."

"Only if he can do so without catching their attention," Christa instructed. "We're not exactly suited to fight them while trying to pull his ass out of the fire."

"Yes, Ma'am," Delilah agreed.

Christa swallowed tightly as she felt a trickle of sweat fall down her forehead the minutes dragging on like hours. "How is the Mirage Colloid holding out?" she asked in concern.

"Operating at full strength, ma'am!" Irvine reported.

Christa nodded in understanding as she calmed herself. "Any changes on what they're doing?" she asked as she peered out the viewscreen to try and watch what was happening.

"No, ma'am, they're still spreading out in a search formation," came the response from the young Coordinator.

"Bring us out of the way of their search patterns for now," she ordered cautiously. "How is Hizashi's progress?"

"Drifting closer to the alien main fleet, still undetected," Irvine replied as he checked another readout.

"Find us a good hiding spot," Christa said. "Once we're properly hidden, send a tight beam message to Hizashi on our position, we're going to wait for the main fleet to arrive."

"Yes, ma'am," Irvine nodded before he turned to Christa fearfully. "Errr… what do we do if they start shooting?"

"Grab Hizashi and make a run for it," she replied calmly. "I'm sure the _George Glenn_ can outrun their ships."

* * *

Fleet Admiral James Henderson, it was a strange sound, especially considering he was well into his retirement age, but he was never one to sit around and do nothing.

So, now, here he sat, on the bridge of the pride of the Sol Council Fleet, the _Diligence_ -class Super Assault Carrier, _Shinpan_. One of three created in junction of the Sol Council, Terminal and Fenrir, each one of them holding one of the three powerful ships.

From his seat he could see the numerous weapon emplacements and linear catapults on the ship as it drifted through space, the assorted bridge personnel around him gathering the data sent in from the _Pathfinder_ -class scouts.

"Admiral!" One of the crew shouted. "The _George Glenn_ has reported contacts! Confirmed alien life!"

James paused in his silent contemplation as everyone in the vicinity froze in their tasks, the bridge crew silent as the words processed through their minds. "Understood, move the fleet out," he announced calmly, his firm voice settling the crew and galvanizing them back into motion. "Set our destination to the system the _George Glenn_ was inspecting and prepare the First Contact package."

"Yes sir!"

"I can't believe it…"

"It was bound to happen," James announced firmly as he looked over the crew. "For now set your shock aside, we have a job to do, and we must give a good impression, send word back to Arcturus Station, tell them to have the Third Fleet on standby incase something goes wrong."

"Let's just hope they're friendly…"

"Me too, me too…"

"Fleet reports their readiness, Admiral," the comms officer informed. "Message has been sent out to all scouts, they will redirect to S-16A3 and drop out just outside the system and enter in under cloak, we can move on your orders."

James nodded before tapping his cane on the ground. "Fleet, move out," he commanded. "It's time… to initiate First Contact."

"Yes sir!" a chorus of voices rang out across the bridge.

The fleet surged forward as one towards the Mass Relay before being caught in its wake and launched towards the connected system.

* * *

"Captain! High energy readings from the Mass Relay! It seems that an entire fleet is jumping into the system! No identification!"

"WHAT!?" the Quarian Admiral shouted in shock. "Recall all ships! Defensive positions around the liveships!"

"Don't tell me the Geth are here too!?"

"U-Unknown! The readings aren't consistent with Geth ships!"

"Keep calm!" The admiral snapped out as she watched the incoming fleet, unable to keep the cold feeling in her gut from forming as she saw the ships enter the system.

The first impression the Quarian Admiral had of the newcomers was… they didn't seem very well-armed and had no idea how to build ships. For one they had wider but shorter ships, completely ignoring the standard Citadel races' style of building long ships around their massive mass drivers.

Trained to assume the worst, the admiral found herself evaluating the other side's armament first. The assortment of turrets suggested they were armed entirely with GARDIAN lasers or similar, but the number of them and variation in sizes suggested they weren't mere point defense weapons… but if not mass drivers - of that size they were useless in anti-ship combat, or lasers, what could they be?

"Those… are odd ships," the ship's helmsman commented as he stared at the vidscreen with a tilted head.

"Unknown Fleet seems to be taking a defensive position ma'am," the RADAR officer announced. "Also, I'm getting more flickers near the edge of the system."

"I know that!" the admiral barked, quickly taking control of the situation. "All hands to level six battle stations, but hold your fire until I give the word! Have the First Patrol Fleet spread out ahead of the liveships in case they shoot first! I'm not taking any chances!"

"Ma'am! The unknown ships have sent out a hail on an open channel!" the comms officer shouted. "Unknown language, the translator is trying to figure out their words."

"I hope they're not hostile…"

"You and me both," the admiral muttered under her breath. It could prove disastrous for them all if the unknowns started shooting with the entire Migrant Fleet behind them. "Hurry up with the translation!"

"It's working as fast as it can, captain," the comms officer announced. "Hold on, getting something else coming through… it's… Prothean? Be… you… friend… or… foe."

"They… know the language of the Protheans," the admiral blinked. "Why am I not surprised? Tell them we mean no harm, but we have insufficient information to decide if we join hands in friendship or part ways as foes. I'm curious about these people."

"Yes ma'am, sending the message now," the comms officer informed as she typed away on her console. "Message is away."

The bridge sat in tense silence for a few moments, the silence only broken by the comms operators filtering through the reports the other ships were sending in. "We have a response!" the officer announced. "Meet… one shuttle each… groups of five… a coordinates for the planet nearby follow ma'am!"

"Better than a mass driver salvo I suppose," the admiral groused as she stood up. "Prepare one of the ship's shuttles! I'll go myself. Have the whole fleet ready to initiate Plan E-688 if bullets start flying."

"Yes ma'am," her second in command announced. "A squad of Marines will be waiting for you on the shuttle."

"It'll be disrespectful to the newcomers if we send some no-name to the negotiation table after all," she sighed and began making her way to the ship's hangar, sidestepping the loose panel on the floor that clanged loudly every time it was stepped on.

They really needed to get that fixed…

"Admiral Shala'Ran! The shuttle is prepped for launch!" A marine shouted as she entered the hanger. "We're ready to launch whenever you are."

"Very well. Is it prepped for atmospheric reentry? I remember a loose panel in the cabin of that particular one…" she eyed the patchy shuttle with a discerning eye.

"Been fixed and triple checked by five different mechanics," the Marine, a Major, assured. "It won't quit on you today at least."

"You'd think an admiral at least gets a properly maintained newer shuttle…" Shala'Ran groaned. "Put in a request for one next chance you get. One that's not the old Roth-class. I'm too old to deal with that crappy stabilizer they use."

"Best one we've got at the moment, unfortunately," the Major replied. "I called Corporal Romu'Mila to pilot, she knows her way round them quite well."

"Admiral, you seem a little too relaxed for a situation like this…" another soldier pointed out.

"If I'm not calm and relaxed, who's going to be?" the admiral retorted. "Kid, if you get all shaky in your boots every time something happens, you'll never make anything happen."

"You heard the lady, lock everything down, Zoru'Yom double check those seals," the Major announced. "Liveship _Reyya_ , this is shuttlecraft _Bosh'tet_ , we're launching to meet with the aliens."

"Yes sir!"

"Who named the shuttle anyway?" Shala'Ran groaned again.

* * *

"Patchy."

"Fucking patchy."

"Looks like it's made of duct tape."

"Are all xenos going to be all patchy like this?"

"Stow it, Marines," James growled, glancing behind him to the group of Marine Commandos who were escorting him, every single one of them in a hardsuit, although James' was modified to have his face completely visible through a transparent faceplate. "We don't know anything about them, for all we know it was their honored ancestors' shuttle or something."

The shuttle's thrusters sputtered for a moment, releasing a thick cloud of smoke for a moment. It quickly regained power and reignited the thrusters before it could hit the ground.

"Maybe they're hot women?" the banter continued in low whispers.

"I bet they look like catgirls."

"Dragon girls."

"Ripped men ready to tear our delusional throats out."

"Fuck you," came in perfect synchronization from the other marines.

"Keep your mouths locked Marines," James said, a warning growl in his voice. "So help me if your mouths fuck this up..."

"Yes sir!" the marines quickly clammed up.

"And here they are," James whispered to himself as the alien ship landed.

Out of the ship five humanoid creatures stepped out, covered head to toe in environmental suits like them. Two of them held a feminine shape with pronounced chests and wider hips, their faces were hidden by semi-transparent visors with a pair of glowing eyes visible within them.

The marines wisely held their tongues.

One of the aliens stepped forward, one of the females, an orange holographic glove flaring to life around her right arm as she hit a few holographic buttons before holding out.

 ***Please provide a translation index of your language to the Prothean language. Using it as an intermediary will greatly speed our translation efforts, as I'm sure neither of us can actually speak the language,*** a message in Prothean was transmitted to James' suit computer as the lead alien finished tapping on the strange holographic wrist computer, automatically translated into English.

James nodded as he lifted his right arm up to start tapping on his suit's computer to send the index on an open channel to the aliens. "I have sent it," he announced.

"Gfgddhetgdh," the alien said after a moment, a word none of them thought possible to pronounce. "Dhcttccrut. Testing. Testing. Does this sound correct?"

"That it does," James confirmed with a relieved sigh as he stepped forward. "I greet you in the name of peace, I am Fleet Admiral James Henderson, of the Sol Council."

"And I am Admiral Shala'Ran vas Tonbay, of the Quarian Migrant Fleet," the lead alien inclined her head towards James. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Well, I'm glad that went well," James commented wryly. "I must admit, this is my species' first time initiating first contact, so forgive me for my… informality."

"Some of us prefer the informality, Admiral," the alien admiral gave off the impression of smiling as she glanced at the human shuttle for a moment. "Especially in such a situation. Please understand, we do have civilians in the liveships behind the fleet so the Admiralty Board is quite skittish about large fleets of warships approaching the Migrant Fleet."

James looked up into the sky where he could see the barest hint of the two fleets. "I assure you, we have no intentions of initiating any conflict," he informed reassuringly. "The Fleet that I am in charge of is mainly exploration focused."

"Your ships are designed strangely," Admiral Shala'Ran remarked, with a similar upward look. "Seeing a ship not following the standard Prothean-inspired design philosophy is unsettling. The Citadel is like a council of sorts for the different races inhabiting the galaxy. We Quarians may be the first you've met, but by no means are we the only ones."

James nodded as he turned back to face the alien admiral. "I see… you said you people are on a Migrant fleet?" he commented questioningly. "Are your people nomadic?"

"Not by choice. We were driven out of our home system by the AI robotic servants we developed," the admiral's tone turned harder as she let out a depressed sigh. "Since then we have been jumping from system to system scrounging up resources just to survive. Many of our ships are generations old, scavenged and restored to barely working condition. Our bodies' immune systems are useless having lived in the sterile environment of spaceships for so long, we are forced to live inside these environment suits forever."

James blinked in surprise as he looked at them in surprise. "Really?" he questioned in shock. "Have you tried gene therapy? Increase your immune system strength?"

"What is… gene therapy?" Admiral Shala'Ran blinked in confusion.

James blinked several times in surprise. "Gene therapy is manipulating you body on a genetic level," he explained after a few moments of thought. "It is capable of doing many things to help prolong one's life."

The Quarian admiral was silent for several moments. "Admiral James…" she began shakily, "If what you suggest does indeed work, the Quarian race would be forever indebted to you."

James shifted a bit, considering his options. "I… cannot make this decision to help your people by myself," he informed with a sigh. "That decision would have to be made by the entirety of the Sol Council, and for that, you would have to meet them."

"Similarly I must run this decision through the Admiralty Board before committing to a decision," Admiral Shala'Ran agreed. "But what would your Sol Council likely name as a price for such a service?"

"I believe technical and engineering trade would suffice," James said after a few moments of thought. "It would all depend on how the meeting between both of our people goes."

"Very well then, Admiral James," the Quarian admiral nodded. "If needed, I will have one of our ships detach from the Migrant Fleet as an envoy as you do not seem to use the same communication hardware we do."

"That would be best," James said in agreement. "I do hope that our people can come to a mutually beneficial agreement."

"Indeed," Shala'Ran agreed. "Though I daresay after hearing about what you have to offer, we'll have the time of our lives beating off Quarians eager to study your people and your technology with a stick."

"I'm sure our engineers will be the same way," James chuckled before gesturing to the Marines. "Prep for launch boys, time to head back to the ship and talk to the Council."

"Yes sir!" the marines saluted as the shuttle engines began to warm up and the pilot rushed through the preflight checklist.

"I might even come along myself," Shala'Ran chuckled. "We shall see."

"I will look forward to it then," James informed with a slight bow. "Until we meet again, Admiral."

"Until we meet again," the Quarian admiral nodded, turning back towards her own shuttle and groaning as the engines sputtered out again.

* * *

" _This… is huge news,_ " Siegel Clyne said in awe as he shook his greying head, his holographic form flickering slightly from the comms room of the _Shinpan_ , all around were the flickering holograms of the other council members. " _First_ peaceful _contact with alien life._ "

" _Of course we will meet with them,_ " Uzumi spoke up, the eagerness in his voice obvious. " _And chances are, I think we're all in agreement with helping them._ "

The other council members nodded in agreement. " _Of course,_ " Michelle King, the new President of the EA agreed, her blond hair pulled tightly into a bun as her youthful green eyes glimmered in excitement. " _Where should we hold the meeting?_ "

" _Neutral ground would be the best,"_ Uzumi mused. _"It may be too soon to receive them on Earth - It might intimidate them being where our security is the most concentrated."_

"I believe I know a planet we can use," James spoke up. "The Colony Planet Shanxi, much of it is under construction, but one of the PLANTs is constructed and ready."

" _Shanxi, huh? That will work. Ensure we have an environment suitable for them ready,"_ Uzumi nodded.

"Well, thanks to their environment suits that they are required to wear, they are highly adaptable to the environment they can function in," James informed.

" _I've read your reports, but they're extremely vulnerable to suit breaches from the looks of it_ ," Siegel said as he consulted a screen. " _I hope our gene therapy can remove their reliance on the suits at least._ "

" _It's not so easy, Mr. Clyne,_ " Michelle pointed out. " _We'd need to obtain a complete sequencing of their genes before we even begin to try gene therapy. That might take some time, not to mention differences in physiology complicating the development of new equipment adapted for their race._ "

" _That is true_ ," the councilwoman from Mars, a younger woman by the name of Christina Hellis who had viridian colored hair and sea green eyes commented. " _What about helping them in the shorter term of things by allowing them to settle on some of the PLANTs? With the sealed environments of the PLANT structures, they should be able to survive better there than their ships._ "

" _And there's also the simple matter that they might simply not trust us,_ " the Europa councilman, a grey-haired, silver-eyed middle-aged man going by Indus Luxor added grimly. " _We're offering a cure for one of their biggest problems, for a trade of not quite equivalent value. It's likely too good to be true for them and they know nothing about our technology either_."

"There is plenty that we will be asking for in return," James informed with a grim face. "They hold vital information about the greater galaxy and this… Citadel Council, they also have maps on habitable planets, systems with resources, where to avoid, there is plenty they are able to give us in return for our efforts."

" _As for the trust, that's just going to need to be built over time,_ " Uzumi nodded. " _They say they're interested in studying our people and technology. We should allow them to send people to study with us. Rather like an exchange student program._ "

" _It will all depend on how the talks go,_ " the Mars councilwoman replied. " _When should we hold them?_ "

"We should be able to get a suitable location ready with a week," James offered. "All we need to do is repurpose one of the larger buildings in the PLANT to host their dignitaries."

" _How long will it take to get to Shanxi from where you are now?_ " the Europa councilman asked.

"About a day and half at standard cruising speed," James replied after a quick mental calculation.

" _Odds of that pro-humanity supremacy group, Cerberus, showing up to disrupt the proceedings?_ " Siegel turned serious.

"They may try," James said with a heavy sigh. "I can't predict how they would interfere with an occasion like this, but, I would recommend assigning Terminal as security for the event and hire Fenrir to assist them."

" _Of course. We'll have them at Shanxi within the week_ ," Siegel agreed with a sigh. " _It's a pity that even now in the age of space exploration, we must still war with each other…_ "

James nodded in agreement solomly. "But that's why we have old dogs like me," he informed in a rumbling voice. "To make sure that when war does break out, it doesn't get dragged out."

"True," Siegel conceded with a sad smile. "We'll alert them about their newest assignment. Just focus on escorting our honoured guests back to Shanxi. Entertain all their requests for information up to Level 6 clearance… for now."

James nodded. "Very well, I hope to see you all again soon, Councillors," he replied dutifully before the transmission were cut. "Get a line with the Quarian envoy ship, inform them of the council's decision."

"Yessir!" the comms officer replied before setting upon her job.

* * *

"Let me on the damned ship!"

"A chance to complete my Pilgrimage! I cannot let this pass! Please!"

"Calm down!" one of the admirals for the Admiralty Board barked out over the din of shouts from the crowd. "This is not a pleasure cruise and nor is it a shortcut for a Pilgrimage, this is a diplomatic mission! We are not even allies with the aliens yet! So either shut up and let us make our decision or get out!"

The crowd of Quarians immediately shut up.

"Thank you," Han'Gerral vas Neema, the admiral of the Heavy Fleet. "Now, we will be taking a small contingent of Marines, Scientists and Doctors with us to the negotiations, experts in their fields, each captain will forward the names of those they believe that will be of benefit to this event, and we Admiral will make the final decision. Are there any questions?"

"Can we stay with the aliens and study them?"

"It will completely depend on how negotiations go," Shala'Ran admitted. "I am hopeful that we can forge an alliance with them, but I will not start making plans until it is certain."

"What were the aliens like?"

"They seem physically similar to Asari, at least the ones I saw," Shala'Ran explained. "Like one would imagine a male Asari would look like I guess."

"What is their technology like?"

"I… can't say for sure," she replied slowly, her eyes narrowing in thought. "They definitely use Eezo for propulsion and power, but beyond that… I am not so sure."

"I saw the photos! Their ships are weird-looking…"

"They are, but that just makes them all the more dangerous," Han'Gerral informed cautiously. "It means they do not fight like the other Council races do."

"What kind of trade are they offering us?"

The admirals shared a look between each other, communicating through subtle gestures. "They're offering a chance to recover our immune systems," Shala'Ran informed solemnly. "Not a _promise_ , but a _chance_."

The crowd was silent for several moments before it broke out in another uproar.

"Does that mean we won't have to keep living in these suits anymore!?"

"Take the deal! Take the deal!"

"Finally we can ditch the damned enviro-suits!"

"SILENCE!" another admiral shouted, a middle aged Quarian named Rael'Zorah stepped forward. "Even if we could, it would not be worth it if they made us all slaves!"

Silence fell over the whole Quarian crowd.

"The impression I got from them during our first contact was quite good though," Admiral Shala'Ran stepped forward. "We shall negotiate further and see what kind of agreement we can come to. This is a completely unknown race we're dealing with though, so rest assured the Admiralty Board will exercise the utmost caution while dealing with them."

"Well, I am in agreement that the Admiralty Board be present during the negotiations," Admiral Zaal'Koris added with a nod. "When is the meeting set?"

"Next week," Shala'Ran replied. "They will be escorting us to one of their colony planets for the negotiations."

"We're going with the entire Migrant Fleet?"

"No, we will be taking at most five ships," Han'Gerral informed. "We don't want to put too much of a strain on them."

"Agreed," Admiral Shala'Ran nodded. "While negotiations are underway, the rest of the Migrant Fleet will remain in this system and continue looking for resources. Don't slack off while we're gone!"

* * *

"Fleet Admiral Henderson reports that they are en route to Shanxi, sir!" An aide reported excitedly, close to three days to the day they would sit at the negotiation table.

"Thank you," Siegel replied with a grateful nod. "Let him know we are on our way ourselves."

"Yessir," the aide replied before leaving him alone in his office inside of a _Junius_ -class Diplomatic Transport.

Looking out of his window he grinned at the sight of the streaks of light from their FTL flight. "Here's hoping it all works out," he whispered to himself before turning back to the security reports from Terminal and Fenrir.

"Alien contact has been made," Kira commented as she walked into the office she, Ryu, and Lacus all shared on the Mendel base. "We've been hired to provide security for the negotiations should Cerberus try to intervene."

"Well, I knew we wouldn't be alone out there," Lacus remarked, nodding. "I mean, even discounting the destruction of the Protheans, there's no way we were the only races to develop in the past 50,000 years. What are they like?"

"From the reports, nomads," Kira explained as she consulted her datapad for the report of the event. "Their ships look extremely patchworked and their immune systems are incredibly weak, gene therapy seems to be their main reason for sitting down at the table with the Sol Council."

Ryu hummed in thought as he tapped his finger on his desk. "So them trying to screw us over is unlikely," he said, mentally reviewing a list of available units and ships. "The real issue though would be Cerberus, I really don't know how they would react in a situation like this…"

"True," Lacus replied with a sigh. "Though I wouldn't be surprised if they behave like Blue Cosmos, only towards extraterrestrials as opposed to Coordinators."

"Either way, I think we should have the _Archangel_ , _Havok_ and the _Retribution_ on station for the event," Ryu informed as he began to make notes on a tablet. "Opinions?"

"Those three should be good for securing the exterior with the Terminal and Sol Council forces," Kira agreed with a nod. "For the interior defense, Shadow Squad should be good for sniper positions on the rooftops."

"We'll also have Assassin Squad in the meeting itself," Ryu agreed. "Kira, you and I should be in there as well, Lacus can join the ambassadorial delegation."

"Right," Lacus replied. "I can certainly represent our interests in the negotiations, at least."

Kira nodded. "Agreed. So, should I pack my sniper rifle, or something close-quarters?"

"Rifle with a side arm," Ryu answered, looking over the floor plans for the conference. "We'll be up in the rafters here, so grab an ACOG scope for the rifle instead of the standard scopes."

"Understood," Kira agreed. "If hostiles show up, we'll need to deal with them quickly."

"Well that's what us and Terminal will be there for," Ryu stated wryly, smirking at his two wives, eying Lacus' swollen stomach anxiously for a minute. "Are you sure you'll be fine, in your condition?"

"I'll be fine, Ryu," Lacus replied with a smile. "Not the first time I've been in negotiations while pregnant, after all."

"Alright then, I'll get the gear ready, Kira, you mind selecting the support teams?" Ryu questioned, turning to the brunette.

"Right," Kira replied. "I'll get the teams squared away."

* * *

"Tablet… laptop… sidearm… ammo…" Jinn muttered to himself as he packed a small suitcase for the mission he had been assigned.

"Jinn-koi, I heard the news. Don't tell me you were planning on leaving without me," Hanami stood in the doorway with her arms folded tapping her feet on the ground.

"Are you sure?" her husband questioned with a raised eyebrow as he turned to face her. "It has been a while since you were last deployed."

"I may have become a mother twice over but I'm still sure I can fit in my flight suit!" the silverette smiled proudly, sticking her chest out.

"You do remember that it _literally_ ripped apart when you tried it on, right?" Jinn reminded pointedly.

Hanami blushed and deflated as that particular issue was pointed out. "I don't care, I'm still going out with you! We can even bring the kids along! They'll be safe on the ship!"

Jinn sighed. "Alright, but get a _new_ suit measured out for yourself," he told her firmly.

"And I'll need to log some time back in the simulator too, brush up on my old skills…" she added, walking over to pull out her own luggage bag - considerably larger than Jinn's. "Hey… is the Exodus Century still around?"

"Ready and waiting for you," Jinn informed. "Still in the _Archangel's_ hanger."

"I still can't believe it… we were prepared for it, I know, but I didn't expect humans to encounter sentient life out in the stars in my lifetime…" Hanami sighed, pulling out several dresses from their wardrobe.

"True," Jinn agreed with a sigh. "And an _organized_ government of multiple aliens out there as well."

"Mmm, I hope we can make some good friends out there," Hanami nodded, pulling out several sets of clothes and holding a dress up to herself in front of the mirror. "It'd be nice if this peace can continue… but somehow I get the feeling the other aliens aren't going to be as friendly."

"Maybe, maybe not, but that is why Fenrir still exists, is it not?" Jinn offered in return. "To make sure that the peace can continue."

"Yeah," the silverette nodded, packing a few sets of underwear. "You think… that Cerberus might somehow be related to Blue Cosmos?"

"I'm not sure," Jinn admitted. "The message they sent to Ryu when they tried to recruit us stated that they wanted to ensure humanity's dominance, not Natural or Coordinators."

"Not like we're going to be dominating much as newcomers on the galactic field," Hanami sighed.

"Who knows what they're thinking," Jinn sighed as he shook his head. "For the time being though, we have a conference to protect."

"I wonder if we can recruit some of the aliens eventually?" Hanami mused. "It'd be an interesting experience learning from them."

"Ryu is thinking about exploring the option in about a year or so," Jinn explained. "See how well we do with the aliens initially before looking for some recruits from them."

"I heard their ships were really patchy…" Hanami studied a bra with a broken clasp and sighed, setting it aside.

" _Very_ , apparently they're nomads of some kind," Jinn replied as he finished packing his suitcase and neatly closed it.

"Jinn-koi, can you help me get my handgun from the safe?" A distracted Hanami asked as she rolled up a few pants. She caught the unloaded gun along with the magazine without looking as it flew through the air towards her and loaded it to check in one smooth motion, before unloading it and slipping it into her bosom. "Thanks."

Jinn rolled his eyes at her hiding place for her weapon. "Make sure the safety is on," he reminded her.

"It is, and I unloaded it anyway," Hanami smiled, rising from her packing. Such was the depth of her bosom that the gun was completely hidden from sight inside… "I'll get a proper holster for it once we sortie."

"You _have_ been visiting the shooting range, _right?_ " Jinn pressed with a serious look.

"Every week or so," Hanami nodded. "Without bringing the kids along."

Jinn nodded in acceptance. "Ready?" he questioned, picking up his suitcase.

"Yup," Hanami smiled, linking hands with her husband. "I've been finding myself craving something else to do instead of just staying at home being a housewife anyway!"

Jinn chuckled. "Don't start tempting fate now dear," he warned her. "You know how it likes the challenge."

"Fine, fine," Hanami laughed. "I'll just tempt you instead," she mashed herself against his side, pulling his arm into her bosom.

Jinn rolled his eyes. "You do realize that it's become much harder for you to do that since we first made love, right?" he questioned.

"Killjoy," Hanami pouted. "But you still haven't seen me dressed up as a succubus yet, have you? I haven't shown you that particular costume yet…"

"Another costume?" Jimm asked cautiously. "How many more do you plan on getting?"

"Enough to keep things spiced up in the bedroom," Hanami giggled. "Although I've caught the girls trying to get in my collection every now and then… they're really too smart for their own good."

"Why are they trying to get into your collection?" Jinn questioned with a pronounced frown.

"They're probably just curious," Hanami smiled. "They know I have something hidden away in there that I don't want them to see. Even if they got into it, it's not like any of them could wear them anyway…"

Jinn gave her a look.

"Maybe in a few years," Hanami chuckled.

"With how much they grow per month?" he questioned. "Try next year."

"Not to my level," the silverette stuck her chest out proudly. "They did inherit the Yukikaze genes but even then they're still not going to be anywhere near me for a few years yet."

Jinn rolled his eyes. "They still draw too much attention for my liking," he groused. "Not to mention that they dress for the attention."

"Ahahah… they take more after Kagami?" A sheepish Hanami rubbed the back of her head. "Don't worry, we both scare off any potential suitors anyway."

"Our reputation alone should hopefully handle that," Jinn replied. "If it doesn't… well, There is the Viral Intruder and Exodus Century."

"Mmm, true," Hanami let out a ladylike laugh with her hand covering her mouth as a dark mist started forming around the two of them.

"Mom, Dad, you're both scary."

"Please, no, not the masks!"

"Then I hope you know not to try and peek on your mother's collection," Jinn told the pair with their heads poking in the doorway all too pleasantly.

"Yes, Dad…" the pair stepped out into the open. Looking quite like smaller versions of Hanami, but with some of Jinn's features, the silver-haired twins were about 14 but already showing their Yukikaze blood in their well-developed, curvaceous bodies already at D-cups. They wore identical pink cropped tops and white skirts, making it hard to differentiate the two.

The only way most people were able to tell them apart was by their bangs - the slightly more level-headed Tsubaki wore her right bang longer, while slightly cheekier Shirayuri had her left one longer.

"Your mother and I will be deployed soon, pack a suitcase, we will be leaving in an hour," he told the pair. "Nothing unnecessary."

"Ehhh!?" Tsubaki gasped.

"We're coming too!?" Shirayuri had stars in her eyes.

"Staying on the _Archangel_ , but yes," Jinn confirmed. "No arguments about having to stay on the _Archangel_."

"Tsu-chan, we'll get to see mobile suits up close!" Shirayuri giggled as she clapped her twin on the shoulders.

"Yeah, Shi-chan!" Tsubaki giggled.

"But why though? Don't we have school to attend?" Tsubaki asked.

"I've made arrangements to have you two keep up with your work via vidcom while on the Archangel," Hanami smiled, nodding to herself. "This is… just to show you what happens on a usual Fenrir mission, but I'd still rather you two stay away from the battlefield in the future."

"Although considering our family's luck…" Jinn trailed off with a grimace.

"Best to be… prepared anyway," Hanami sighed, her hand coming up to trace the scar going across her front. "I want you two trained to pilot, but preferably only for self-defense."

"Yes, mom!" the twins mock-saluted.

"Now go tell your brother and start packing," Jinn told them. "We have to get going soon, we will be left behind if we're late."

"Yes, dad!" they saluted again before racing off to their room cheering.

"It's almost like… back in the old days, isn't it?" Hanami smiled wistfully. "Minus being _forced_ to pilot the Exodus under threat of dying to ZAFT."

"Only this time we're dealing with an alien race and possible attacks by human supremacists," Jinn pointed out.

"Maybe multiple alien races in the future," Hanami added with a sigh. "This time around I'm more prepared to protect ours though… I still remember when I was young and so shy and scared back then."

"And I was _very_ anti-social," Jinn reminisce. "I guess we both helped each other."

"Mmm hmm…" Hanami chuckled, rubbing against Jinn. "Come on, let's see if we can get our old room on the _Archangel_ back."

"I hope they didn't ruin the monitor setup I had," Jinn groused, allowing her to rub against him. "It took me _forever_ to get things just right."

"I'm sure no one touched it, Jinn-koi," Hanami laughed. "You'll be fine, and it's not like you don't know exactly how to get the layout perfect anymore."

Jinn rolled his eyes as he huffed. "It's the principle of the matter," he argued. "When it's perfect, you don't mess with it."

"Perfect for you doesn't mean perfect for everyone else," his wife giggled. "Come on, let's go help the kids pack. They'll take ages otherwise."

"I'll help Itsuki pack, I don't _want_ to know what my daughters consider clothing," he sighed. "Just make sure they have something _respectable_ to wear for the treaty signing if it comes down to it."

"Of course, Jinn-koi," Hanami gave her husband a quick peck on the cheek lovingly.

* * *

"Exiting FTL."

"Bring us in, nice and easy," James commanded as he stood on the bridge of the _Shinpan_. "Status of our guest's ships?"

"Holding steady behind us, matching relative speed."

"Good, let's hope they're enjoying the sight," James informed as he grinned, the small fleet passing by the PLANT colonies that were under construction, Construction-Type mobile suits moving back and forth between the superstructures and the Heavy-class material haulers for the construction materials. "At least we can give them a peaceful first impression of our mobile suits."

"Sir, their ships have stopped."

"Hm? Bring us to a full stop, have the rest of the fleet continue onwards," he ordered. "Let's give them a minute, it might be they're looking at the PLANT superstructure."

"Think we impressed them?" one of the operators chuckled.

"Our engineers do great work, that is for sure," James chuckled. "The new PLANTs are half as big as the original ones, all thanks to the Eezo cores."

"Incoming transmission."

"Bring it up," James said with a nod as he turned to face the view-screen with the helmeted face of Shala'Ran popped into existence.

" _I hate to disturb you before proper negotiations have begun, Admiral… but… what are those?"_ the Quarian admiral brought up a screen showing one of the mobile suits working on the PLANTs. _"None of the Citadel races have ever developed robots as massive as these, and I must admit to being curious myself as to the technology going into them. The younger ones are raising an uproar over here about them."_

It was clear that the Quarian admiral herself was very, very interested in them too, despite how she was trying to hide it herself and completely failing judging by her accelerated breathing.

"The mobile suits?" James asked in surprise. "You mean… you've never developed them? They're essentially the backbone of our society, Military and Civillian."

" _No, we haven't…"_ Shala'Ran shook her head. _"The idea has simply never occurred to the other Citadel races as far as I know. The closest we have seen to them were built by the… Geth, but they incorporate technology we ourselves as their creators cannot begin to comprehend ourselves."_

"I see," James blinked several times as he processed the information. "Well, for the most part, mobile suits are not robots, there are some that are run with the assistance of a Quantum Learning computer, but mostly, they are ran by a pilot, it would more accurate to call them an Exosuit."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the Quarian side. _"Incredible…"_ the Quarian admiral breathed. _"To control such a massive, complex mechanical construct with such precision… it must take an incredible amount of skill."_

"I will not lie, it is so, it took us years to develop an operating system that the average Natural can use, and even then it takes a combination of training, experience and instinct to be able to move one," James admitted with a nostalgic look. "But when mastered, a single mobile suit can change the tide of a war."

" _Did you develop them using Prothean technology as well?"_ Shala'Ran asked.

"No," James denied with a grin. "Mobile Suits were developed a long time before we even learned about the Protheans."

The Quarian admiral was silent for several moments. _"And you say they were used as war implements… Admiral, your race is terrifyingly ingenious."_

"I shall take that as a compliment, Admiral," James replied as he bowed his head slightly. "Shall we continue on? The Council was eager to meet with a new race."

" _Yes… yes, let's…"_ Shala'Ran nodded distractedly as the Quarian ships' thrusters fired up again. _"Your colonies are most impressive as well, though you should also see the Citadel."_

"It must be an impressive sight if the PLANTs didn't phase you," James commented.

" _Trust me, it most certainly is,"_ his Quarian counterpart chuckled. _"We'll see in time."_

"I await with baited breath," he joked with a slight chuckle as the ships approached a mostly finished PLANT structure, the bottom half being completed while the top half was only a quarter of the way.

" _Though, what manner of weapons do your race use? Your ship designs are ill suited platforms for the mass driver weapons most of those who have unearthed Prothean relics use,"_ the Quarian admiral asked in curiosity.

James hummed as he contemplated answering her, rubbing his chin. "I'm afraid I can't give the details, but we use beams as our main weapon," he answered her finally.

"As in lasers?" Shala'Ran blinked.

"Not quite, but close enough," James replied with a mysterious smile. "Like I said, I can't go into details about it."

The Quarian admiral sighed. "I understand. The closest approximation we have are what we call GARDIAN lasers, which are typically not used in anti-ship combat as they lose effect with range."

James nodded as he filed that bit of information away for future use. "I see," he murmured quietly as the ships approached the docking bay. "If you'll excuse me Admiral, I will speak with you again as soon as we disembark."

"Alright, Admiral," Shala'Ran nodded as the video feed cut out.

"No beam weapons, huh?" James murmured to himself. "Going to have to remember if we ever come into conflict with the Council Races."

He shook his head before turning to the crew to oversee their docking.

* * *

"Haa… damn, they said their ships were patchwork… but damn, that ship look like it should be floating in a graveyard," Dearka Elsman commented as he watched the ship pass by on one of the monitors in the hangar of the _Archangel_. "Although I do have to give their engineers props for keeping that thing running."

"It looks like they slapped together a bunch of random ship parts with duct tape," Fubuki Yukikaze remarked, staring at the monitor.

"Only they didn't have the decency to use Duct Tape," a feminine voice commented, as a blond haired, violet eyed girl, clad in a black pilot suit with red highlights, Stella Hisanaga, the adopted daughter of the founders of Fenrir.

Her years as the daughter of the Hisanagas had done the once nervous and shy girl wonders as she had blossomed over the last 20 years under their care, both physically and mentally, gaining confidence in herself and her growing skill with mobile suits, earning the command of the _Archangel's_ mobile suit's contingent through her own skill and tactical leadership rather than who her parents were. "Unlike us humans, it looks like that the aliens have yet to learn the glory of Duct tape."

Fubuki let out a small chuckle at that. "I was kind of expecting a grander First Contact though," he admitted.

"Well, not everyone is expecting first contact when they're looking for resources," Nicol Amalfi commented with a light chuckle from where he was working on the console for his mobile suit. "Plus, from what I understand, they seem to be a mostly nomadic people."

"Kinda hard to get your ships all nice and shiny when you have to ration out the shoe wax I suppose," Yzak Joule said from where he was lying down on top of a stack of crates. "Hell, their engines need a complete overhaul, they're stuttering every three minutes when they're accelerating."

"Even the old Agamemnon class still hanging on in service are doing better than those hunks of junk," Fubuki agreed. "Hell, I've seen mothballed ships in better condition…"

"Hell, I think some of them _are_ mothballed ships," Dearka said as he shook his head. "They'd probably give an arm and a leg for a second hand ship in halfway decent condition."

"Still though, you have to wonder what they would be able to do with good equipment if they can keep those derelicts running," Yzak drawled. "Maybe we should snatch a couple up for Fenrir."

Nicol snorted in response. "I'm sure the Bosses are already thinking about it," he commented in amusement. "Good engineers are hard to come by."

"I wonder what they look like?" Fubuki mused.

"Hard to tell with the suits they wear," Stella commented, leaning over Dearka and Fubuki - unintentionally pressing her rather large bust (although it wasn't a match for the Yukikaze family) against the back of Fubuki's head - to pull up the helmet image of one of the Marines who were apart of the First Contact meeting of the Quarians. "Apparently they can't even take them off due to their weak immune systems."

Fubuki's face turned red as he desperately tried to ignore the softness - the adopted Hisanaga had grown _very_ attractive over the years after all.

Dearka smirked at his good friend as Stella pressed a hand down on his own head. "So that's their rush for wanting an alliance with the Sol Council," he commented. "Our Gene Therapy must be very valuable for them."

Fubuki glared at Dearka, having sensed the smugness emanating from the former ZAFT soldier. It looked a little odd considering his still very feminine appearance - he still wore his hair long.

"Should be interesting though, eventually we'll be able to see under their masks," Stella giggled excitedly, not moving from her position, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "What do you think they look like, Fubuki?"

"Abuwha?"

Stella giggled again at his distracted state before releasing him from her chest. "What do you think they look like, Fubuki?" she questioned again.

"I… I don't know?" Fubuki blinked in confusion, trying to process the… pink feeling he was sensing from the girl.

Stella smiled at him cheekily. "Oh well, I'll be checking over the Midgar again," she informed, talking about her personal mobile suit, based off about the ZGMF-Z88S Gaia developed by ZAFT. "I'm next up for Patrol after all with you, Fubuki."

"Oh… uh… you are…?" Fubuki blinked again.

"Of course, remember the schedule?" she questioned teasingly. "Unless you were hoping to ride on my lap in the Midgar~?"

"No-no thanks, I've still got the Ariete!" Fubuki stammered. "What happened to the old Stella anyway… you used to be so innocent back then…" he lamented as he slumped.

"I grew up~" she sang cheerfully as she spun gracefully, putting her dance training to use.

"And got corrupted in the den of debauchery," Fubuki added with a deadpan. "I still think this organization is crazy sometimes."

"And you're a high ranking member of it," Stella teased as she continued to dance across the hangar floor, a blissful expression on her face. "What does that say about you?"

"We're all crazy to some extent," Fubuki rolled his eyes. "You'd think most people would know I'm a guy by now…"

Stella laughed in response as she came to a stop before her machine. "You have to admit, the expression of the recruits is funny when they learn you're a trap," she commented cheerfully.

"Oi! Some of us don't need the reminders," Dearka shouted from the feet of his unit, Ship Buster.

Fubuki let out a forced laugh. "Hanami-nee still won't let me cut it any shorter than this…" he groaned, twirling his hair around his finger awkwardly.

"I think it looks good on you," Stella told him, shooting him a brilliant smile. "It's cute, not to mention, it makes us look like we'd be getting all 'Yuri Yuri' together when you're helping me shop for new clothes."

Fubuki's face turned completely red.

Dearka sighed from where he was climbing into the cockpit. "Jeez, they're never going to let me forget that, are they?" he muttered to himself in irritation. "Hey! We're up in ten minutes, better get ready for launch!"

"R-Right!" Fubuki jumped at the chance to escape the conversation as he sprang to his feet and headed for the hulking form of his oversized mobile suit. "I'm coming!"

"Killjoy!" Stella shouted back at Dearka as she climbed into the Midgar.

Dearka sighed as he opened a private link with her unit. "You really should tell him you're interested in him in more than a 'just friends' way," he told her once the link was open. "He's kinda dense, you know?"

"Mm, but it's fun," Stella giggled, her violet eyes sparkling cheerily. "I'm sure he'll pick up my feelings eventually, he is an empath after all, right?"

"You'd think so," Dearka sighed as he shook his head. "Just… don't lead him on for too long, alright?"

"Hmm, if he doesn't figure it out in a year, I'll tell him then," she replied firmly. "Even if I have to shove my tongue down his throat."

"Oi," Dearka winced. "Fubuki might be onto something with how you've been corrupted."

Stella giggled again before closing the link after tossing him a playful wink.

"Oi… those two are rough," he groaned before starting the boot up sequence for the Ship Buster.

"Finally," Shinn sighed as he brought his new unit, known as Destiny, in for a landing in the hanger of the _Retribution_. "It's about time we finished our patrol, it's just tiring flying around doing nothing."

" _It's just another part of the job, Shinn,_ " Jade informed, as her own unit came in for a landing, a customized version of a newer transformable unit that was being rolled out known as 'Spectre'. " _We_ wanted _to join the efforts to protect the meeting, after all._ "

" _Yeah,_ " Flay replied, her upgraded Blitz landing just after Jade's machine. " _It may be boring, but as long as it stays boring, that means everything's going smoothly._ "

"I know, I know," Shinn sighed as he shook his head. "I'm just bored is all, at least we can do something other than sit in a cockpit and stare at our screens."

" _Mm, you mean like 'bedtime' something?_ " Jade questioned with a perverted giggle.

Flay giggled. " _That does sound like fun,_ " she admitted. " _And… well, on a semi-related topic, I'm going to have to go on leave again in a few months…_ "

Jade squealed in excitement. " _Really!?_ " she questioned excitedly. " _I wonder what it's going to be, a boy or girl?_ "

"When did you find this out?" Shinn asked in surprise, blinking a few times.

" _Just this morning,_ " Flay admitted with a blush. " _Breakfast… didn't seem to want to stay down, so I thought I'd get checked out and, well…_ " She smiled. " _I'm looking forward to letting Fiora know that she has a little brother or sister on the way…_ "

" _Don't forget about Alex, she's going to be ecstatic!_ " Jade agreed happily as their units were locked into place. " _I'd say this calls for a celebration!_ "

Shinn sighed as he opened his cockpit and stepped out. "Is that all you think about?" he questioned his wife dryly as the three met up on the way to Pilot prep room.

"Well, not just that," Jade admitted with a grin. "I also think about fast mobile suits and mobile armors."

"Yes, we all know how speed is your element," Flay replied with a smile of her own. "Sometimes I wonder if you're the reincarnation of some race car driver from before the Reconstruction War."

"Bah, those cars are too slow," Jade replied with a frown. "They barely even reach two g's of force!"

Flay giggled. "You have to admit, your obsession with speed does make me wonder sometimes," she said. A moment of silence passed between them, before she asked, "Anyway, what are your thoughts on these negotiations? You think the Quarians will accept it if we warn them about the Reapers?"

"Well, Lacus _does_ have Sentry with her if they need more definitive proof," Shinn commented as they walked into the changing room. "Kinda hard to argue with a Prothean VI turned AI."

* * *

Siegel Clyne adjusted the collar of his suit, awaiting the Quarians disembarking alongside several other dignitaries, along with his daughter who was clad in a sleeveless black and green maternity dress under a white kimono like robe that bore a black colored Fenrir symbol on its back. "Are you sure you're in good enough condition to participate?" he questioned quietly.

"Father, I was a part of negotiations that dissolved into a firefight with another mercenary company when I was pregnant with Karen," she informed wryly. "Do you really think that being pregnant again would stop me from attending negotiations with the first alien race we've come into contact with?"

Siegel sighed as he rubbed his forehead at the reminder of his daughter's profession. "Don't remind me about Fenrir's talks with Mars about the Prothean Ruins there," he requested. "Hopefully these talks don't go so badly."

Lacus smiled at her father kindly in response. "Of course, father," she agreed. "Fenrir will be doing all that it can to ensure that these talks will go uninterrupted."

Siegel nodded as he turned to the docking tube as it finalized its decontamination sequence and allowed the Quarians to step out, the five Admirals stepped forward first, followed closely by three soldiers.

"Welcome," Siegel called out as he stepped forward. "My name is Siegel Clyne, I am the Supreme Councilman of the PLANTs, and their representative on the Sol Council, it is a pleasure to meet you all."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Supreme Councilman," Admiral Shala'Ran stepped forward, having the most experience talking to the Sol Council. "I am Admiral Shala'Ran vas _Rayya_ , of the Quarian Admiralty Board."

Siegel bowed his head to her in response. "May I also introduce some of my fellow leaders, Michelle King, the President of the Earth Alliance," he said, gesturing to the blond leader who stepped forward with a respectful bow. "The Chief Representative of the ORB Union, Rondo Mina Sahaku," a black haired golden eyed woman stepped forward in recognition. "And finally the Mars Representative, Gordon Charman," a silver haired, green eyed man wearing a lab coat over some dress clothes stepped forward. "And this here is Lacus Hisanaga," he said, getting to the pink haired woman who gave the Quarian's a warm smile. "She is representing a Mercenary Guild known as Fenrir that we've had strong relations with after they helped us put an end to the wars that unified us."

"So your Sol Council is also a council of several different nations? I see…" the lead Quarian admiral nodded in understanding. "With me now are some of the leading admirals of the Migrant Fleet as well - Admirals Rael'Zorah vas _Idenna_ , Han'Gerral vas Neema, Daro'Xen vas Moreh and finally Zaal'Koris vas Qwuib Qwuib. The Quarian Admiralty Board is comprised of the admirals of the various fleets forming the entire Migrant Fleet, in a fashion similar to states although we do not have actual land to call home."

"You have our sympathies," Siegel informed with a soft expression on his face. "Hopefully, our discussions can help ease your burdens in the future."

"Hopefully," Han'Gerral agreed. "May our negotiations be fruitful."

"Please, follow us, the conference hall is not far," Siegel informed with a gesture as he began to lead them through the docking bay, James joining them on the elevator. "If I may say, our engineers have all be saying the same thing since they've seen your ships, and I mean no offense, but they are all impressed with how you keep those ships running."

"None taken, we are well aware of the running condition of most of our ships, but we lack the resources to do anything about it," Zaal'Koris sighed. "It's taking all the Migrant Fleet has to just keep vital life support systems running and sustain food production on the liveships. A single life support failure can lead to hundreds of deaths on a single vessel after all… it has happened before."

"Are you not able to settle on a new planet?" Siegel questioned. "Or do you need specific conditions to do so?"

"It is… a punishment by the Citadel, for unleashing the Geth," Shala'Ran sighed. "We can no longer settle any new planets in Council space. After we lost our home planet Rannoch, we also lost our embassy on the Citadel along with whatever privileges we enjoyed. Now the Quarian people are regarded as scavengers and beggars."

The elevator was silent for several moments as the human occupants considered what the Quarian just said. "So… they handed down a death sentence without being kind enough to actually quickly end it," James said, his body trembled slightly in anger.

"For what it is worth the Quarians are still alive, if barely," Shala'Ran sighed. "In a way we do deserve it for letting unshackled AIs run wild."

"That is hardly a reason to condemn an entire species to a slow extinction," Lacus informed from her seat. "Although, I have to wonder, what happened with the AIs?"

"The Geth have completely taken over Rannoch in our absence and mostly keep to themselves although there have been sporadic sightings across Council space," Han'Gerral explained. "Their goal as of yet is unknown."

Lacus hummed in response as she looked back out over the interior of the PLANT that was coming into view.

"That is concerning," Mina commented idly. "Their forces must have been impressive if they pushed you back along with the Council races."

"The Council races never helped us," Shala'Ran revealed quietly.

"And yet they still condemned you," Gordon stated solemnly. "How is it they are still in power if this is how they treat their allies?"

"The Citadel Council is more of a collection of representatives of the various races, like how your Sol Council has representatives of each nation. In the end they all prefer to look out for their own interests rather than act for the collective benefit of the Citadel races as a whole," Zaal'Koris grunted, showing his displeasure.

"I see, that… is at once understandable, but… it is also how civilizations are toppled," Michelle said with a regretful look. "If no one acts in the defense of another, then one by one they will fall."

"You speak from experience?" Han'Gerral asked.

"Far too much of it," Michelle sighed. "We almost brought about our own extinction because we allowed terrorists to take control because it didn't effect our nation."

The Quarians seemed to think for a moment, before turning around to talk among themselves for several moments in their native language. A short while later, they turned back to the humans again. "Would it be too much to ask for you to share your methods of dealing with conflict with us? I believe we may benefit from such exchange of information."

"It's simple," Lacus spoke up. "Eventually the death toll became so great with the war that was invoked by them, that it could no longer be ignored, because eventually death stops becoming a statistic."

"That's… not an option we can take," Shala'Ran admitted in disappointment as the elevator arrived at the designated floor.

"Perhaps a way can be found in our discussions," Siegel informed with an encouraging smile as he led the procession out into the PLANT interior. Unseen above them, groups of Fenrir marines watched the procession carefully. "We do pride ourselves for thinking outside of the box."

"An entire self-sustaining ecosystem… within a colony…" Zaal'Koris stared at the sight - though still under construction, the PLANT interior was already filled with almost everything that made it a piece of Earth away from Earth. An artificial blue sky spanned across the false horizon, ruined only by a tarp stretched across the top part to cover the last piece of it that was being built. There was even a sea and birds flying around, as well as insects chirping from the adjacent forest. The weather system was already fully operational - the current setting was somewhat windy.

"We could stand to learn a few things from your people…" Han'Gerral murmured, looking around in wonder.

"I'm sure we can learn plenty from you as well," Siegel replied as he led them up to a building that overlooked the entire interior of the colony.

"Perhaps, but thinking back on it even the Citadel wasn't made by the Council races. It was an old Prothean relic that no one can even come close to understanding," Shala'Ran chuckled. "Aside from the Citadel there are no known colonies in space equipped to sustain entire ecosystems. Most space colonies we've seen are drab and completely utilitarian."

"Really?" Michelle questioned in surprise. "That is rather surprising, we've been using orbital colonies for generations now, Eezo has made it even easier."

"You built… all this… without using Eezo in the past?" Daro'Xen exclaimed, looking around wildly again. "I daresay we'll be learning more from you about your technical ingenuity rather than you learning from us!"

"My thanks for your praise, Admiral," Siegel replied with a smile. "Although for the longest time, only Coordinators like myself were able to survive living in Space Colonies due to the gene manipulation we underwent in utero."

"I suppose that is understandable…" Shala'Ran nodded as the delegation entered the structure and were immediately subjected to gawking stares from the various civilians milling about the area.

"Unfortunately, that genetic manipulation was also the main reason for the war we underwent before unifying under the Earth Sphere Alliance, the title we used before we expanded beyond our solar system," Mina explained with a sigh. "On the one side, some of the Coordinators thought they were the next step in evolution, whereas a Natural - humans who have received no genetic modifications - terrorist group believed that they were abominations to be destroyed. And under it all, were several munition companies that formed a secret group to keep the war going, so that they could make more money from the growing conflict."

"War profiteering," Han'Gerral nodded.

"Exactly," James confirmed, looking down in regret. "I had been the President of the Earth Alliance at the time, and I regret allowing them to keep the traction they had when I got into office."

"You did the right thing in the end, friend," Siegel assured as nodded. "We've all made our mistakes, and corrected them in the end."

"Aye, that we did," James agreed grimly, adjusting his cap a bit.

* * *

"So these are the aliens, huh?" Jinn questioned as he monitored the group's progress through the Viral Intruder's cockpit, having accessed the security cameras that had been set up for the meeting. "What do you think, Hanami?"

" _I almost expected little green men with one eye,"_ Hanami muttered from the cockpit of the Exodus.

Jinn snorted in response as he adjusted his mobile suit's position slightly. "Well, we can confirm that they have _two_ eyes, can't tell their skin color yet though, not unless they take their suits off."

" _It's incredible how… humanoid they look though,"_ the silverette remarked. _"Even the females look like… well, females."_

"Could it be because of similar evolutionary lines?" Jinn questioned. "It was theorized that most aliens would have opposable thumbs because of how useful they are when manipulating tools."

" _I guess…_ " Hanami nodded, flexing her own thumbs around her mobile suit's controls. "I really do wonder how they look under their suits…"

"Maybe we can find out soon enough," Jinn encouraged. "After all the main point to these talks would be the gene therapy, right?"

" _Yeah_ ," Hanami smiled, before her gaze lowered slightly. " _I hope we're not being too naive on our first step into intergalactic diplomacy though._ "

"Sometimes, you need to be a little naive and believe in the good of others," Jinn replied with a soft smile. "But if things don't work, we will be ready."

" _Yeah,"_ Hanami beamed. _"Think Cerberus will actually try anything with how tight security is?"_

"I hope not," Jinn said with a sigh. "Especially for one this important."

" _HAHAHAHA! IF THEY SHOW UP AH'LL PUMMEL THEM INTO SPACE DUST!"_

" _Remind me again why we're saddled babysitting this crazy perverted musclehead?"_ Hanami groaned. _"I get that he's an ally now but he makes me want to shoot him almost every time he opens his mouth."_

"Because despite everything he is a good pilot," Jinn muttered with a groan of his own.

" _HAHAHA! COME AT ME YEH CERBERUS DOGS! THE GREAT FRIEDRICH WILL SEND YEHR ASSES RUNNIN' HOME TO CRY TO MAMA!"_

"Somehow," Jinn added, rubbing his temples in frustration. "Dial it down a couple of notches, Friedrich."

" _For the sake of our eardrums,_ please _,_ " Natarle pitched in from the CIC of the _Archangel_. " _We are wearing headsets here._ "

Hanami could almost imagine the CIC crew clearing their ears at that moment. _"For what it's worth, it's good to be back though,"_ she chuckled. _"Natarle-san, found a boyfriend yet?"_

" _I-I hardly see why that's any business of yours!_ " Natarle hastily shouted, her blush almost audible.

" _Eh? I've been out of service for so long and you still haven't found someone yet?_ " Hanami giggled.

" _I-I never said that!_ " Natarle protested. " _I just don't flaunt my relationships around!_ "

" _But you're in Fenrir! Shouldn't you be doing that?_ " the silverette teased. " _After all, we're the debauchery mercenary guild!_ "

" _That isn't something to be proud of!_ " Natarle shouted in embarrassment.

" _Heheh, she hasn't changed one bit…_ " Hanami grinned.

"Should you really be teasing her like that?" Jinn asked her dryly.

" _I… actually missed being around the ship,_ " Hanami glanced over at the _Archangel_ fondly. " _Hanging around all the old crew, cooking for everyone…_ "

"Well, there is always a place for you on the ship," Jinn told her. "And something tells me in the near future we will be spending much more time on it."

" _Yeah… but at the same time I want to be as good a mother to our kids as possible," Hanami sighed. "It… it feels a bit selfish of me to want to pull them away from school just to stay with us on the ship. And they're noncombatants too…_ "

"Do you really think that they're going to remain that way?" Jinn asked humorously.

Hanami let out a heavy sigh. " _They are_ our _children after all I guess,_ " she sagged. _"They take after both of us far too much_."

"Agreed," Jinn said with a sigh, thinking of all the trouble they caused. "I think I'm starting to go grey because of them."

" _I'm actually happy that I can't get any greyer_ ," Hanami chuckled, gesturing at her helmet-covered hair. " _But you're exaggerating, Jinn-koi… you can always just dye it back._ "

"It's the principle of the matter," Jinn said with a wry grin. "No one else may know, but _I_ would know."

" _I just hope they're not causing too much trouble on the ship…_ " Hanami mused.

" _WHAT DO YOU BRATS THINK YOU'RE DOING!_ " Natarle shouted in a panic over the radio as it suddenly came to life.

" _HI MOM! DAD!_ " Familiar voices called out.

Hanami rolled her eyes. " _Itsuki… what happened to watching over them?_ " she sighed.

" _If you can't beat them… join them?_ " the eldest sibling offered weakly.

" _Don't get in the way of the bridge crew, kids_ ," Hanami rolled her eyes, knowing the crew had a snowball's chance in hell of keeping the children off the bridge.

" _But we're bored!_ " the twins chorused.

"No buts," Jinn told them firmly. "Do you _want_ me to cook dinner?"

" _Dad, you can't be serious!_ " the twins gasped.

" _Your father is dead serious about it, and I will go along with it if I hear so much as a peep about you two wrecking anything on the bridge…_ " Hanami smiled as a dark aura began emitting from the Exodus.

" _THEY HAVEN'T!_ " Itsuki quickly said, a slight struggle heard over his voice. " _I'll take them back to our room now!_ "

" _But we want to see mom and dad in action!"_ the twins could be heard protesting.

" _Uncle Ryu won't like it if you cause a ruckus here either, and he can have you booted off the ship…"_ Hanami added in a low whisper.

" _Uncle Ryu's the one who gets to choose who's a part of Fenrir, guys!_ " Itsuki hissed at his siblings.

"Not to mention he's the one who would design your mobile suits if you _were_ to get in," Jinn pitched in.

" _Okay, we're going back to our room!"_ the twins were dissuaded immediately. _"See you later, mom, dad! Tell us all about the aliens if you see them!"_

Jinn sighed as the line was disconnected. "Such a handful they are," he groaned out. "Even _Alex_ had trouble with them!"

" _She's had trouble with them since they were kids too…_ " Hanami giggled. " _And it took me becoming a full-time mum to get them to settle down… somewhat._ "

Jinn sighed in agreement. "Hopefully they'll settle down a bit before applying to Fenrir," Jinn commented. "I would hate to see what would happen if they attempted Ryu's boot camp with that energy."

" _Give them some time to calm down_ ," Hanami smiled. " _By the way, where did Ryu leave Shiro-chan and Karen-chan?_ "

"They're on the colony itself, not near the talks, but rather in the agricultural section of it," Jinn replied, rolling his neck, starting to become stiff from sitting down for so long. "Apparently Ryu thought they'd appreciate their food more if they actually did work to help it grow."

" _Sounds like he's having some trouble there as well…_ " Hanami chuckled.

"Apparently Shiro inherited his knack for mechanics and Kira's prankster personality, while Karen… got his attitude from his younger years…" Jinn explained. "Ready to fight anywhere anytime."

Hanami winced at that bit of information. " _Beside that I'm not sure if the twins picking up Kagami's flirtiness and mischief is easier on us or not_."

"With them?" Jinn questioned. "At least Kagami was singular… there are _two_ of them."

" _You just need to know the right buttons to push to get them to listen. What works for one works for the other too,"_ the silverette giggled.

"That is helpful," Jinn commented in agreement. "I almost pity the man that takes their interest."

" _That's if we can even let said man near our beloved daughters,_ " Hanami let out a ladylike laugh as the dark aura gathered around her again.

"It's going to happen eventually," Jinn pointed out.

" _Ufufufu_ ~" Hanami's smile widened as the dark aura intensified. " _Will it now?_ "

"Somehow I get the feeling those two aren't discussing anything related to this operation," Murrue muttered from the captain's chair of the Archangel, watching as the Exodus manifested the mechanical variation of Hanami's signature Noh mask.

"No duh, Captain," Neumann said with a roll of his eyes. "Probably talking about those hellions of theirs."

"How did they even get in the CIC anyway?" Murrue frowned, looking below her at the CIC below the bridge. "We locked it against unauthorized personnel."

"They're the kids of the resident hacker, how do you think?" Natarle groaned out as she rubbed her temples. "Why did we agree to take them onboard again?"

"Because we didn't know they were hellions?" Neumann suggested.

"And Hanami's mastery of the puppy dog eyes hasn't faded with age," Mu groaned from his operator's seat.

"I dread the day they become full blown operatives," Natarle sighed. "Here's hoping they learn some discipline."

"How old are they?" one of the newer operators in the CIC asked, looking a little… infatuated.

"16, and unless you want to try to pass her parent's test, don't even think about it," Murrue informed. "And let me remind you that one is the brother of your boss and the other is the cook everyone loves."

Outside the ship, the mechanical Noh mask turned to look in the ship's direction. The operator flinched and broke out in shivers suddenly. "Um, the fuck is that…?" he asked meekly, looking around and realizing he was the only one shaking.

"The mother always knows," Mu said sagely, nodding his head. "And she is _very_ protective of their innocence… although… if that magazine one of them grabbed was what I thought it was…"

"You guys are crazy," the sweating newbie operator muttered as he quickly wrote the twins down in his mental 'who not to try to score with if you want to keep your balls' list.

"Ya gotta be if you want to survive in Fenrir," Mu retorted with a chuckle.

"Why did I join these mercs again?" the operator groaned.

"The paycheck," another operator suggested from beside him.

"Right, the paycheck," the first operator sighed. "Vice Captain Badgiruel, how do you survive in this group of headcases? You have to be the most normal person around here…"

"That's only when she's on shift," Mu called out, ducking the book that Natarle threw at him. "Trust me, once she gets off she's got whiskey in her hands and ready to pulverise anyone who steps into the ring with her."

"I am just making sure I remain at Fenrir's standard of ability for someone of my rank," Natarle retorted with a heated glare.

The utterly terrified rookie was inching away from Natarle, eyes flickering between her face and her fists.

"Wind it back, people," Murrue ordered, her voice light but the underlying tone of command reinforced with years of experience settled the bridge crew. She opened up the channel to the mobile suits in the field as well to announce, "It may not look like anyone is going to try and disrupt the meeting, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be ready for the attempt. That includes you two, Hanami, Jinn."

" _Sorry, Murrue,_ " Jinn replied apologetically.

" _Yes, ma'am!_ " Hanami flinched and snapped a hasty salute.

"If only that tone worked on those hellions they call children…" Natarle groaned as the connection cut out again.

"Unfortunately they seemed to have inherited Kagami's lack of fear of those higher ranked than her," Murrue sighed as she rubbed her forehead.

"Permission to kick them off the ship the moment we return to Mendel," Natarle asked in a deadpan tone.

"Good luck with that," Mu snorted with a roll of his eyes. "Even with your brutal boxing skills, I don't think anyone but Hanami and Jinn can corral them with any efficiency."

"Hanami's told me before that it takes a really big and juicy carrot on a stick to get them to follow along though," Murrue sighed, massaging her temples. "Just a big stick won't work, they either get themselves out of it or shrug it off."

"Or turn it against you," Neumann pitched in sagely. "Trust me, I go drinking with Alex, and when she gets a few in her does she have some stories."

"I don't think I want to know," Natarle muttered, folding her arms crossly.

"You don't," Neumann confirmed with a sage like nod.

* * *

"And this will be where we will be conducting our talks," Siegel announced as he finished the small tour he was giving the Quarian dignitaries, leading the delegation into a large meeting room. It wasn't decorated too lavishly, but enough to make it comfortable at least. "And may I introduce the General Elect of the Sol Council, Uzumi Nara Attha."

The aged former leader of ORB stood up during the introduction. "Welcome," he greeted in a pleasant tone. "Please sit, make yourselves comfortable."

"Thank you, General Elect," Shala'Ran inclined her head towards Uzumi as the Quarians filed into the room and took their seats, looking around at the decorations.

"Do you like our artist's efforts to welcome you?" he smiled, gesturing around. "Many of our greatest volunteered their efforts to show examples of our cultures and worked tirelessly to show them off."

"Quarians haven't actually had much of an appreciation for art and culture since we were driven off our homeworld centuries ago," Zaal'Koris chuckled. "We simply have not had the effort to spare on anything non-productive that uses our valuable resources. The closest we have are quilt knitting - and materials are often limited - as well as dance. The gesture is appreciated though."

Uzumi nodded as he placed his hands on the table. "I will be completely frank with you," he admitted. "We of the Sol Council wish to help you, and I understand that you have very little in terms of ways to pay due to your situation, correct?"

"Indeed," Shala'Ran nodded. "Much of what we can share is only technology and information, but we will need a consensus from the entire Admiralty Board in order to decide if we can declassify the more valuable ones. In terms of material assets, we have barely enough to survive as is. The offer of relieving us of our dependency on these environmental suits is a tempting one, but one we may not be able to offer adequate compensation for."

"We have been planning for trade with other species for a long time, and have drawn up several trade laws for things like gene therapy, technology and all that," Uzumi explained calmly. "While these are strict laws, even for myself as the leader, but… I do know of a loophole that may be to your benefit in more ways than one."

"You will need to convince far more than the five of us, General Elect," Rael'Zorah said, pulling up a screen on a curious holographic wrist gadget. "Quarians place a very high importance on equivalent trade for value. It's not about the process, but rather about what we trade with each other. While goodwill like this is hard to come by in the universe, we simply cannot accept it unless we ourselves can offer something with equivalent value. Short of transferring a few ships and their crew to you, there's nothing much else we can think to offer, and that also requires a consensus from the Admiralty Board."

Uzumi nodded his understanding. "I would fully encourage you to think this offer through," he informed seriously. "While as a separate government from the Sol Council, the trade will be rather hefty, but, if you were to become a member of the Sol Council, not only would you receive the same rights for the gene therapy our members do, but you would be offered a seat on the Council and even be allowed to settle onto the PLANTs and have them configured to better suit your physiology."

The Quarians were silent for several moments. "That might be a price far too high to pay," Han'Gerral shook his head. "We cannot put the Quarian race as a whole under the authority of another race. Some of us still dream of retaking Rannoch some day, and with the preparations we are making, it may very well be in this generation. We would still prefer to govern ourselves."

"Do not misunderstand us, joining the Sol Council would not affect your ability to govern your people," Siegel informed patiently. "Each government is responsible for their own people, while there is some general rules and laws that must be observed, it would not affect the way you govern your people, and while we would require at least an attempt at diplomacy with these Geth before you go to war with them, but were one member to declare a justified war, or attacked by another, then the others would aid them in the battle."

"The Geth are machines, there can be no reasoning with them," Han'Gerral frowned.

"That aside, will we be required to stay within your system should we accept this offer?" Shala'Ran raised a hand to stall her fellow admiral. "And will your people accept this? To you we are an alien race, and to so freely give away a membership of your Council, a place in your decision making process…"

"To those who are willing, all shall be accepted," Uzumi explained with a gesture at the plaque dominating one of the hall's walls displaying the absolute rules of the Sol Council. "That is the first tenet of the Sol Council, whether human or alien, so long as you are sentient, follow the laws of the Council - allow the freedom of the citizens, ensure that the needs of the citizens are met to the best of your abilities and aid in the defense of the fellow members of the Council - then you will be allowed membership."

"So… this would be more of a strategic alliance," Daro'Xen concluded.

"And I also assume you want information on the greater universe out there beyond your worlds," Rael'Zorah nodded.

"It would be appreciated," James informed with a nod. "But not a requirement."

"But at the same time it is the least we can do in return," Shala'Ran chuckled. "Where are the other members of your Council, though? Should this not be something you deliberate on?"

"It has been," Uzumi replied with a small chuckle. "Unfortunately, all could not attend the meeting, but we did discuss our options prior to your arrival. It was a near unanimous decision, the only objectors were those who were worried you actually being agents of another species to try and attack us."

"We would never!" Han'Gerral growled.

"I understand, it was the only concern being raised by a minority in the Council," Uzumi said, raising his hand to calm the Quarians. "I do not believe that you are. If I did even have the slightest doubt, I would not have offered you membership."

"But pray tell, what other species would do something like that?" Daro'Xen frowned thoughtfully.

Uzumi shook his head. "We don't know," he admitted. "But, we are a race who believes that we must be prepared for anything."

"Shouldn't we all?" Shala'Ran chuckled. "For what it's worth, you have my vote once we return to the fleet to deliberate."

"Before you do," Lacus spoke up, standing up from her seat near the back of the room, almost forgotten by the delegates. "There is something that you must know, Sentry, are we secure."

The table's Holo-imager flared to life as Sentry appeared on it. "We are, Lacus," he confirmed as he materialized. "There are no hidden devices on anyone in this room."

"A… VI?" Shala'Ran whispered as she took a step back. "Or an AI?"

"It's… complicated," Sentry admitted as he turned to the Quarians. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Prothean VI, Sentry, I am a part of the Fenrir Mercenary guild, and in an attempt to repair some of my corrupted files, I evolved into a full Artificial Intelligence."

"An AI! You dare…" Han'Gerral growled as he made for his sidearm only to remember he had left it behind for the talks.

Sentry sighed in response to the aggression. "Given your history with AIs I am not surprised at your aggression," he said patiently. "However, before you start throwing accusations around and leave this table, I would have you listen to what I have to say about the death of the Prothean Empire almost 50,000 years ago."

"You… have information as to what destroyed the Protheans so long ago?" Daro'Xen took a sharp intake of breath.

"Yes, while much of the data had been corrupted, some of the critical information remains intact," Sentry confirmed. "In fact, it was in the attempt to restore that data that led to my evolution as an AI." he shook his head slightly before an image appeared next to him, showing an almost squid like ship revolving. "This is a Reaper… billions of these hyper-advanced machines exist out beyond the stars, and every 50,000 years they come into the galaxy to wipe out all space faring civilizations."

"Hyper… advanced machines? More AIs?" Han'Gerral groaned.

"They are AIs, yes," Sentry confirmed. "But unlike them, I have no wish to see my comrades killed and harvested by them."

"For an AI you have strange notions of camaraderie," Shala'Ran noted with an odd look.

"Because he is our comrade," Lacus said firmly as she stood next to Sentry. "Even if he is not alive by the traditional means, to quote a philosopher from our past, he _thinks_ therefore he _is_."

"Perhaps that may be the one thing that caused our failing," Daro'Xen sighed. "We designed our AIs to serve us, to be subservient to us rather than stand alongside us."

"If you were told your entire existence was to be a slave, would you merely accept it?" Sentry asked a rhetorical question. "But, while you may dislike me saying this, we will need the Geth's aid to defeat the Reaper threat. I unfortunately lost much data regarding them, but I know that the entirety of the Prothean Empire was unable to stop them."

"Do you have any concrete proof?" Rael'Xorah asked, studying the image of the Reaper.

Sentry nodded in confirmation. "The Prothean Ruins on Mars within the Sol System," he explained. "They contain some basic information on the Reapers and on a weapon that the Protheans were developing to destroy them."

The Quarians switched back to their native language to discuss among themselves for a short while. A few minutes and some heated gestures from Han'Gerral later, they turned back towards Uzumi.

"We would like to see the data cache before making any further decisions on this," Daro'Xen said in a serious tone.

"Of course," Sentry agreed as screens appeared before them. "At this time I cannot give you direct access to the data due to security reasons, but this is declassified information that you can look over."

The Quarians blinked as a veritable wealth of information appeared before them. Most of it was in Prothean, apparently records of Reaper sightings. Eventually combat records were added… most of them ending in failure. Debriefing data wasn't present, and neither were detailed analyses of the fighting or the Reapers' capabilities - those were classified for the time being.

"Concrete proof indeed," Daro'Xen muttered gravely, looking through the information. "It does explain the extinction of the Protheans all those years ago though."

"This… is information that could easily cause a galaxy-wide panic…" Zaal'Koris breathed.

"Which is why the public isn't aware… yet," Uzumi explained grimly. "And is the major reason why our ties with Fenrir are so close."

"While our organization was originally founded with the intent to protect third parties caught in the war, our intent has evolved since then," Lacus informed seriously. "Fenrir's driving goal, is to ensure the galaxy is ready to face this Reaper threat as one, for if we were to fight this threat alone, none of us shall survive."

"The Citadel would take far more convincing than this though," Shala'Ran muttered, sorting through the reports. "Stubborn _bosh'tet_."

"There will be other hurdles as well, as some members of the galactic community simply refuse to cooperate," Rael'Zorah added with a worried look. "The Batarians for example."

"We shall deal with them when the time comes," Lacus replied with a firm voice. "And should they refuse to cooperate, then we will make no efforts to defend them when the time comes."

"Harsh, but the galaxy would be the better for it without their slavers and their apparent diplomatic immunity," Han'Gerral growled.

"Slavers?" Michelle spoke up, looking at the Admirals intensely.

"Yes, they have slavers roaming the galaxy like pirates, preying on undefended ships and colonies," Zaal'Koris seethed, his fists clenching at the thought. "The Citadel ignores them so long as they stay away from their space, and lets them trample over the minor races. They actually attack the Migrant Fleet regularly trying to enslave our people…"

"You have our sympathies," Uzumi said, not saying what he wished to say for them to join the Sol Council for safety. "While we have had some issues with something similar, thankfully not of that scale."

"It's a slow war of attrition," Zaal'Koris muttered. "They know we have limited resources, so their aim is to wear us down until we can't maintain our warships anymore."

"That is a very precarious position to be in," Siegel informed. "Perhaps we can trade some of our ships with each other, we would love a chance to study the Citadel Council tech first hand, and we do have warships that may be able to tip the scales in your favor."

A sharp ringing could suddenly be heard from all the Quarian admiral' holographic wrist computers. The admirals froze for several moments before breaking out in a slew of what sounded like curses in their own language.

"Of all the times…!" Han'Gerral growled as he rose from his seat and began making for the door.

"I apologize for cutting our talks short, General Elect, but there is an emergency situation with the Migrant Fleet," Shala'Ran hurriedly apologized halfway to the door.

"What is the emergency?" Uzumi questioned as he stood up, Lacus looking up to where the hidden security was located. "Consider our fleet ready to help."

"Picket ships have detected a fleet of Batarian slavers amassing beside a planetoid within jump distance of the Migrant Fleet," Zaal'Koris revealed as the group strode back towards the elevator. "They picked them up late this time so we only have a window of several hours before they attack. If we return using our ships we'll be lucky to arrive in the middle of the fighting…"

"Fenrir will make in it time to help them," Lacus informed as a group of black clad commandos dropped from the ceiling. "Our fleet is ready for deployment, if you wish to come with us, we can get you there quickly."

"The help is very much appreciated!" Shala'Ran nodded grimly.

"This way," a male voice stated professionally as the commandos led the way at a clipped pace. "The order for departure preparation has been sent."

"I cannot say how much we appreciate you doing this for us," Daro'Xen said as they entered the elevator.

"Pay it no mind, we're just doing our job," a female commando informed kindly. "We protect the innocent."

* * *

" _All hands! Prepare for combat!_ " Murrue's voice rang out over the _Archangel_. " _We depart to assist the Quarian Fleet repel slavers in ten minutes!_ "

"What, we're not fighting Cerberus?" Hanami called out as she climbed out of the Exodus Century's cockpit.

"Doesn't look like it," Jinn agreed as he looked around the hangar as the Midgar returned with the Ariete and Ship Buster in tow. "Can't say I'm terribly disappointed though."

"Well, I suppose this is a good way to ingratiate ourselves with them," Hanami commented as she pushed over towards her husband and linked arms with him.

Jinn helped her steady herself as they made their way to the ready room for their briefing. "Still, this will be a good way to learn how these Citadel Council races do battle," he mused. "Not to mention finding out how well our mobile suits work against them."

"Aren't you worried though? We'll be facing an unknown alien race with no intel on their capabilities," Hanami asked, looking back at the mobile suits in their docking cradles.

"Not really," Jinn replied calmly, garnering a surprised look from his wife. "I have you to watch my back after all, right?"

Hanami blinked her purple eyes for several moments dumbly before letting out a small giggle. "Of course I have your back, silly," she chortled, a slight blush on her cheeks. "But we still don't know anything about how they fight, their strategies and tactics, their technology and all that. All we have are report from First Contact of most Citadel races using mass driver weaponry."

"I'm sure the Aquarians will be giving us a crash course in their tactics and capabilities," Jinn pointed out. "We have mobile suits and beam weapons which they have never seen before, and finally we also have Anti-Matter cannons on half our ships."

"Quarians, dear, not Aquarians," the silverette corrected absent-mindedly as Stella, Fubuki and Dearka caught up to them. "Hey guys!"

"Hi, auntie, uncle!" Stella greeted cheerfully as she hung off of an embarrassed Fubuki. "So… we get to kick slaver ass, right?" she chuckled, a vicious smile on her face at the thought.

"I told you to stop calling me auntie, it makes me feel far older than you and we're not even a decade apart in age," Hanami rolled her eyes. "Don't go too wild out there Stella, I know how much you hate that type of people…"

"I am only giving them what they deserve," Stella brushed her words off with a shrug. "Besides, Fubuki here will make sure my back is covered when he's not too busy staring at my beautiful ass."

"Grk," Fubuki choked.

"Fubuki's perving on you? Oh my, ufufufufu~" Hanami raised her hand to cover her mouth as she did her trademark ladylike giggle.

"Mm, I _like_ it," Stella informed as she pressed her chest against him harder.

"Grkrkrk."

"Don't break him too much, Stella-chan," Hanami giggled. "I don't want to bury my cute little brother too early because he died from blood loss."

"I notice you're not actually telling Stella-san to stop completely!" Fubuki squawked indignantly.

"'Cause she knows it's not going to happen," Dearka informed blandly.

"I thought you were on my side, Dearka-kun!" the silver-haired trap complained.

"In time you'll figure out that I _am_ on your side," Dearka told him with a pat on the shoulder Stella wasn't hanging off of.

"Ufufufufu~" Hanami just chuckled mysteriously.

Fubuki just sighed and gave up trying to dislodge Stella from his shoulder.

Stella grinned victoriously as she wiggled her chest against him.

"Hey Stella-chan, want a few tips from Fubuki-chan's big sister on how to seduce him?" Hanami suddenly piqued with a small smirk.

"Thanks auntie, but I'm having fun with my way," Stella informed with a giggle. "But if you don't mind I _do_ need some help with some shopping, kinda _outgrowing_ my bras again!"

"Suggesting you're growing isn't going to work considering I've seen onee-chan's bras hanging out to dry all too often," Fubuki pointed out.

"Party pooper," Stella informed, smirking at the subject of her affection with a perverted glint in her eyes.. "I guess I'm just going to have to get creative with how I dress up, after all there are some things that you _don't_ wear a bra with."

"Mercenary guild of debauchery indeed," Hanami giggled as Fubuki bashed his head against the nearest wall.

"And all of it started with Ryu-nii having a threesome with Lacus Clyne and his wife," Jinn sighed as the interior hangar doors opened to allow a shuttle to land. "Looks like the delegation is here."

"We'll meet them in the room for briefing, probably," Hanami nodded, striding on towards the ready room. "It's their fleet we're sortieing to defend after all."

Jinn nodded in agreement as he followed after his wife, the rest of the pilots milling around the hanger moving to join them. Inside of the briefing room, several video screens were already online - showing the briefing rooms of the other ships in the fleet along with the bridge's of each ship, including Fenrir's own _Diligence_ —class Super Assault Carrier, _Havok_. The seventy-five pilots of the ship sitting in a large room facing the screen as the pilots chatted amongst themselves, chatter that was silenced as soon as Ryu, Kira and the Quarian delegation walked in, the two leaders of Fenrir having removed their helmets.

"Alright, this will be a quick briefing, we will be arriving in the AO within the hour," Ryu reported in a calm voice as an image appeared on the vid screens, showing the current Quarian Fleet deployment as well as the enemy ships. "The tactic we will be using is a simple one, Hammer and Anvil, the Quarian Heavy and Patrol fleets will be providing the anvil, it's our job to hammer the Batarian ships from behind." he looked over to the Quarians. "Can you give us a summary on the weapons and tactics we can expect from the Batarians?"

"Standard Citadel fleet tactics recommend long-range bombardment using ship-mounted main guns at tens of thousands of kilometers, and broadside artillery duels at medium range, at thousands of kilometers. The weapons predominantly used at these ranges are mass accelerators hurling ferromagnetic slugs using mass effect," Shala'Ran explained, using her wrist-mounted computer again to bring up several diagrams. "Projectile speed is largely dependent on a ship's length, so in general longer and bigger ships mount more powerful guns. Batarian slavers have a general preference towards cruisers and frigates that are easier to maintain, so more often than none they will prefer to close in to knife fighting range with disruptor torpedoes and GARDIAN lasers, though they have some cruisers jury rigged with battleship-class guns for besieging targets like the Migrant Fleet."

Ryu nodded and turned to the screen showing the bridge crews. "Your thoughts, Captains?" he asked.

"Bring it in close and cut them apart," the captain of the _Havok_ said. "With the Yoroi squads and our ablative armor, we should be able take their GARDIAN Lasers and hit back hard with our own weapons."

Ryu nodded in agreement before turning back to the Quarians. "And the Batarians?"

"Often the Batarians are content with hit and run attacks, overwhelming a few ships' kinetic barriers with weapons fire, boarding for long enough to collect some slaves before disengaging," Han'Gerral scowled at the thought. "The scum never stay around long enough for the fleet to coordinate a counterattack, and more often than none our ships can't afford to make chase."

"With us attacking them from behind, they won't have anywhere to run this time," Kira assured as she eyed the TACMAP. "Remember pilots, their snub fighters are highly mobile so stay on your toes and watch your flanks."

"Yes, but their weapons only point forward," Rael'Zorah pointed out almost viciously. "Your… giant robots don't appear to have that particular limitation."

"No they do not," Kira replied with a knowing smirk. "That will give us a large edge in combat then, what are their defenses like?"

"Standard Prothean-based ship defenses. Kinetic barriers use mass effect fields to stop most physical weaponry without sufficient mass to plow through. For those that do, they have banks of GARDIAN lasers to intercept them and any fighters trying to get in close," Shala'Ran explained, pulling up another diagram.

"Simple enough considering most of our weapons are energy based," Ryu commented as he looked over the map carefully. "Alright then, that makes things simple."

"Truly, the vast majority of your weapons are energy-based!?" Daro'Xen's eyes widened. "I am glad I came on this delegation…"

Shala'Ran rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Phantom Squad, you'll be circling around to support the Quarian Fleet as soon as we drop into the system," Kira announced as she looked over the _Havok_ 's vid screen where a group of seven nodded in understanding. "Advent and Silver Squads, you are going to be hitting the ships themselves, Colter Squad and Rage Squad, you'll be making sure they get to their targets, Shield and Aegis squads, you're on ship protection duties, so make sure the ships aren't hit by anything they can't handle."

"Roger!"

"Finally, some real action!"

"Don't get in over your head, kid!"

Kira let out a sharp whistle to bring their attention back to her. "Now listen up, we are not to allow _any_ of them to escape," she informed firmly. "While captures are acceptable, we cannot allow word of our existence to spread yet, so make sure they don't escape."

"We can help with giving you schematics on most of the ships the slavers are using," Han'Gerral added, lifting up his wrist-mounted computer again and fiddling around with it a bit. "Sending files."

"Thank you, that will definitely be of help," Kira agreed with a nod.

"What you need to do to prevent the slavers from escaping is to disable their FTL drives," Han'Gerral further explained, gesturing at red circles drawn on the schematics around the ships' drive cores. "Their snub fighters do not carry FTL drives, so destroying their motherships will suffice to stop their retreat."

"Alright, you have your primary target then," Ryu announced. "We are fifteen from the AO, so get your machines ready to launch people."

"Sir!" the assembled members affirmed as the vid screens shut off.

"Now, I'd like to witness this coming battle with my own eyes, if you may allow us to be on your ship's command center during the operation," Daro'Xen quickly asked Ryu, trying to contain her excitement.

"Not on the bridge during combat, Fenrir personnel only, but you may use observation port three, you should be able to keep track of the battle there," Ryu informed politely. "It also has a comms suite so that you may keep in contact with your fleet."

"Very good, because the Migrant Fleet may very likely shoot at you first if we don't give the correct password upon returning," Shala'Ran said grimly. "Safety of the fleet comes above all else, I hope you understand."

"Of course, we are much the same way," Kira assured with a bow of her head. "Agent Hort, escort the admirals to Observation Port 3 and give them full access to the comms suite."

"Yes ma'am!" one of the guards informed. "Follow me, sirs, ma'ams."

* * *

It had been quite the windfall for the Batarians - one of their patrolling slaver fleets spotted the Quarian Migrant Fleet just loitering around a random system. And since it was the Quarians, they were fair game.

It was looking to be a typical hit and run.

Until it seemed like the space-time continuum just tore open behind the Batarian fleets.

"What is going on!?" the Fleet Commander questioned angrily as he looked over to the navigation officer.

"I don't know! It's like space itself is tearing open!" the officer reported. "Wait, I'm getting something… ships are coming out!"

And indeed, ten ships came out of the 'hole in reality'. Unlike anything the Batarians had seen before.

And thus, they had no idea just how screwed they were.

* * *

Stella grinned as she gripped her controls tightly as the Midgar - much like her adoptive father, Stella was a firm believe in the first into the fight and the last to leave it. "This is Stella Hisanaga, in the Midgar, I'm launching!" she shouted eagerly as she was hurtled down the _Archangel_ 's catapult and out into the space behind the scrambling Batarian Fleet. "Alright Wolfpack Squad, time to rip them to shreds!"

A squad of Dagger frame mobile suits followed her out of the _Archangel_ , the assorted pilots gleefully living up to their name as they mimicked a wolf-like howl, following after their leader.

" _Stella-san, don't go too crazy!"_ Fubuki called out behind her as the hulking form of the Ariete launched as well, quad multicolored beams lancing out from its multi-phase beam cannons targeted at four different slaver frigates.

Shimmering fields appeared between them but offered no resistance to the beams, allowing them to pass through and gut the ships. One of them immediately went up in a fireball as its reactor went critical, but the other three immediately began damage control, sealing foam dispensing to attempt to close the gaping holes.

"Let's go Wolfpack!" Stella shouted as the Midgar shifted to its wolf-like MA mode along with the Dagger like mobile suits and landed on the hull of one of the slaver ships. The small turrets dotting the hull swivelled in an attempt to shoot the mobile suits only for the rifles on the flanks of the units to fire back while avoiding the fire.

" _Don't steal all the fun, Stella-chan,"_ Hanami chuckled as the Exodus Century joined the battle, carrying a pair of its signature beam multi-rifles with sniper attachments mounted, as well as a pair of beam gatlings on the backpack.

" _Let us show you how it's done_ ," Jinn pitched in as the Viral Intruder appeared under another ship with its beam saber at the ready.

In the space of a minute, the Exodus had snapped off several beam shots with enough precision to nail all Batarian ships within a 5,000 km radius with shots to their FTL drives, completely cutting off their retreat. A few closer ones weren't so lucky and took precision beam gatling barrages to the bridges and weapons systems.

"Wow Auntie, that's awesome!" Stella cheered as she juked out of the way of a GUARDIAN laser before slicing it off with one of the Midgar's Beam Blades as she passed by.

" _Hehe, Uncle Jinn is quite awesome too,_ " Hanami pointed out the Viral, before firing off another beam in its general direction and disintegrating a snub fighter that was trying to sneak up on it.

" _I've downloaded their databanks,_ " Jinn announced, sounding almost bored. " _Government funded pirates and slavers._ "

" _What took you so long? You normally get it done so much faster,_ " Hanami asked.

" _Their algorithms are…_ strange _,_ " Jinn admitted. " _While they are Prothean based, it's_ different."

" _Oh well. Hey, these guys frequently raid the Quarians, right?_ " the silverette had a sudden brainwave as she sniped several more bridges with an almost feral grin. " _Jinn-koi, space them._ "

" _Hm? Oh, sure, just give me a minute,_ " Jinn said as he caught onto her plan. " _And there, they are breathing in vacuum, might want to have comandos sweep them first though, some of them are wearing hardsuits._ "

"Auntie and Uncle are awesome," Stella giggled as the Midgar leapt to a new shit and severed a bridge from the rest of the ships. "Heck, my entire family tree is a big tree of awesome!"

" _Your entire family is crazy,_ " Dearka inputted as his heavy weapons pounded into the Batarian fleet.

"Exodus _to_ Archangel, _let the fleet know we're taking the ships intact as gifts for the Quarians!_ " Hanami called back to their mothership. " _Try not to blow up the ones we've already disabled!_ "

" _Roger that, Exodus,_ " Murrue replied as blasts of energy soared overhead as the bulk of the Fenrir fleet began to close the gap, the gleaming white ship that was built in _Heliopolis_ that had been one of the organization's first proper flagship leading the charge as it gutted an opposing cruiser with twin blasts from its Gottfried cannons. " _Make sure you mark the disabled vessels on the TACMAP._ "

" _Done,"_ Hanami nodded as the TACMAP lit up with the marked disabled ships. _"But damn, even slaver ships are in better condition than the Quarian fleet over there."_

" _Government funded slavers have good ships it seems,_ " Jinn replied calmly as he continued to access the Batarian fleet's systems, spacing some while others were outright disabled. " _All callsigns, be aware, specially marked vessels have captured species aboard, please be cautious in your attack on them._ "

" _All this intel can be_ casus belli _for a formal declaration of war…_ " Natarle remarked as Jinn continued sending the pilfered data back to the Archangel. _"I don't think the Council will object."_

" _Against slavers? Never,_ " Jinn commented in agreement. " _Unfortunately, neither they, nor us, will be able to take open action against them if we want to bide some time for the First Contact with the Citadel._ "

" _They sound like a bunch of uptight, selfish assholes,"_ Hanami added.

" _People fear change,_ " Jinn pointed out calmly. " _And sometimes, the best way to keep your government stable is by making as few changes as possible._ "

" _By the way, watch your 6, Jinn-koi. No clear shot on that snub fighter,"_ the silverette pointed out with an almost lazy shot that took out another snub fighter.

" _Hm,_ " Jinn glanced up for a moment before firing at the snubfighter that was attempting to attack him, nailing him in the cockpit. " _Thank you._ "

" _Hey, if you're going for disabling shots, the Ariete doesn't do anything not collateral damage very well…"_ Fubuki grumbled from where the Ariete had taken to ditching its weapons and going brute force melee on the Batarian ships, ripping off turrets and punching bridges with its bare hands, simply shrugging off weapons fire using the beam shields that had been installed in its pauldrons.

" _You seem to have it covered,_ " Dearka replied dryly as he cored the reactor of a ship that was attempting the flee the battle. " _Going all Hulk on their ships like you are._ "

A ripped off turret flew past him and impacted on another turret that had turned to aim at the Ship Buster. _"I have almost literally nothing more precise I can do besides this,"_ Fubuki sighed.

"I think Fubuki being so macho like that is _sexy!_ " Stella commented with a giggle.

The Ariete missed a kick at a turret but hurriedly followed it up with a hammer fist that smashed it into the hull. _"Stella-san…"_

"Yes~?" Stella replied all too sweetly.

" _Please stop distracting me,_ " Fubuki got out sounding rather pained as the Ariete smashed another bridge hard enough to cave it into the hull leaving behind a rather deep hole.

"Aww, is Fubuki thinking naughty thoughts about me?" Stella questioned with a giggle as she flipped over a bridge, her two Impulse Beam Cannons tearing through the bridge of the ship she was attacking.

" _You're distracting me,"_ Fubuki groaned as the Ariete switched to its quadrupedal triceratops form, jumped to another ship and, ramping up the mass effect generator installed in the mobile suit, kicked it hard enough to send the whole frigate flying into one of its fellows.

"So you _are_ thinking naughty thoughts!" Stella proclaimed happily as the Midgar used the Ariete as a platform to jump to the next Batarian Cruiser.

" _Stop distracting me,"_ Fubuki repeated, reaching out to grab a snub fighter, spinning around a few times to redirect its momentum before hurling it at another frigate's bridge. It missed and slammed into the hull instead in a fiery explosion. _"And command your own squad!"_

"My pups don't need me watching over their shoulder," Stella pointed out as her squad broke into groups of four to start wreaking havoc on the enemy fleet.

" _Then_ please _find someone else to hang around…"_ Fubuki groaned.

"Hmmm… I suppose I could ask for fashion tips from Auntie," Stella mused with an obvious grin in her voice. "She's _bound_ be able to help me find all the sexy clothes!"

" _Not on a battlefield,_ please _, Stella…"_ the silver-haired younger Yukikaze pleaded, throwing a punch at an incoming Batarian snub fighter as the Ariete was suddenly engulfed in an explosion, although it quickly cleared away to reveal it hadn't taken any damage at all. _"Now they're suicide bombing us?"_ he rolled his eyes.

"Well it's kinda obvious that they would eventually," Stella pointed out as she simply shot down a pair of snub fighters before they even got close enough. "After all, nothing else they have is working so far."

"Yeah, well, I didn't think aliens would actually use that tactic," Fubuki grumbled, resolving not to punch the damned things again as he took down a few more with the Ariete's CIWS.

" _Will you two stop your lovey dovey act and fight seriously!_ " Yzak shouted as he dodged around several snub fighters. " _We are being swarmed here!_ "

"I'm not doing anything," Fubuki quickly declared as the Ariete retrieved its beam cannon and swept a multicoloured beam of energy across the space near Yzak's customized Duelist mobile suit, disintegrating a fair bit of the swarm.

" _Your obliviousness is distracting,_ " Nicole deadpanned as his custom Reaper Mobile Suit materialized into existence before the bridge of the fleet's carrier and swung his beam scythe across the viewport, causing an explosive decompression.

"Look, I'm just… well…" Fubuki slumped as he looked furtively around for a moment before flipping a few buttons to put him on a private channel with the other former ZAFT pilots. "She's way younger than me! She can easily find someone who's around her age that doesn't look like a girl. I'm not that oblivious…"

" _And yet her overprotective parents, who run the largest human mercenary group that has the worst people in the world shivering in their boots after the last time they attempted to harm one of their children, have made_ no _moves to push you away from her,_ " Dearka pointed out. " _I think that's their way of saying they approve of you._ "

Fubuki groaned, though he didn't miss a beat as a frigate actually tried to ram the Ariete only to eat a beam through the bridge. _"I'm not suited for her,"_ he muttered. _"I'm older than her by pretty much a decade…"_

" _So? There are plenty of couples that are around that distance in age, hell, my parents are,_ " Yzak said with a roll of his eyes. " _What's the harm in_ trying?"

"I… just don't think I'm really suitable for her…" Fubuki groaned. "Look, let's just drop this for now and focus on fighting."

" _We'll drop it for now, but it's not over,_ " Dearka informed with a chuckle. "Not by a long shot."

Fubuki let out a heavy sigh as he switched back to the normal channels only to be quickly greeted by a curious Stella. " _What's wrong, Fubuki?_ " she questioned.

"N-Nothing!" the effeminate Yukikaze quickly deflected with a blush.

" _Really?_ " Stella questioned, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. " _Cause I can see you blush, and when you lie, you blush._ "

"It… it's nothing!" Fubuki insisted, shutting down the video feed in a hurry and keeping it to just voice, although he inwardly cursed at himself for practically confirming Stella's suspicion with the hasty and blunt dodge. "Stella… why do you hang around me so much anyway? Don't you have any if the other pilots to talk to?"

" _Of course, but Fubuki is the best to play around with!_ " Stella informed with a giggle.

The younger Yukikaze groaned and smacked his head on his console lightly at the reply. "Of course I am, you never tease the others the way you do me," he muttered.

" _Sometimes, but, I like you more,_ " Stella commented plainly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Miriallia fired a shot from the Buster's sniper rifle weapons configuration, lancing through the engines of a Batarian ship.

" _Nice shot, Mir!_ " Tolle shouted to his wife of five years. " _Man, once we get past their shields, these ships are really weak!_ "

" _What shields?"_ Sai grinned as the Aegis flew by being chased by a laser in its mobile armour form. Once out of the laser turret's firing arc he spun around, opened up the claws and tracked his own beam cannon across the ship. The barrier offered no resistance to the energy-based weapon at all and the ship folded in half as its hull buckled.

" _Their physical weapons shields,_ " Tolle replied as he rolled his eyes, the three person ' _Heliopolis_ Squad' tearing their way through the Batarian fleet with long ease. " _Hell they don't even have ablative armor._ "

" _We're all using beam weapons, so I repeat, what shields?_ " Sai simply added.

" _Hence his questioning of no ablative armor,_ " Mir pointed out. " _Plus some of_ my _weapons use physical rounds - coil gun rounds, but physical rounds nonetheless._ "

" _We can't expect them to use the same tech as us now, right?"_ Sai said, rolling out of the line of fire of a mass accelerator turret pointed at him before switching back to mobile suit form and peppering the ship's broadside with his beam rifle to disable its broadside guns. _"And they weren't expecting to go up against beam weapons in such numbers either."_

" _Still, you would think that they would be ready for something unexpected,_ " Tolle said with a sigh as he drove a beam saber into the bridge of a small frigate. " _To not it sloppy and unprofessional._ "

" _They're slavers, pirates, Tolle,"_ Mir pointed out, switching to shotgun mode to shoot at several snub fighters, clicking her tongue in annoyance when the physical rounds only barely dinged them owing to their shields. Several more shots overloaded the shields and took them down for good. _"I'm not surprised at the lack of professionalism. That's if they even know what professionalism is."_

" _Well, sorry, but I am a firm believer that if you are going to do something, very least you can do is be professional about it,_ " Tolle replied, annoyance clear in his voice. " _Just because you're going to enslave someone, doesn't mean you_ have _to be cruel about it._ "

" _Wait, you're more hung up about them not being professional rather than the simple fact that they're_ slavers?" Sai blinked in surprise. _"I thought them being slavers preying on the vulnerable people is enough of a reason to kick their asses across the galaxy."_

" _Of course it is,_ " Tolle replied bluntly. " _But that doesn't mean I can't be professional about kicking their asses across the galaxy._ "

" _You two bicker about the weirdest things,"_ Mir rolled her eyes. _"Can we get back to_ simply _kicking their asses across the galaxy already?"_

" _Fine, fine,_ " Tolle sighed as he moved onto a cruiser that was attempting to flank the _Redemption_. " _Take all the fun out of it._ "

" _If you must insist, we should kick their asses across the galaxy and beyond for just being assholes in general,"_ Mir revealed primly as a salvo of beams took out a bunch of snub fighters trying to attack Tolle's Duel.

" _What's wrong with some friendly banter in a fight?_ " Tolle questioned as he began to gut the cruiser, his beam saber easily cutting through the hull of the ship. " _It's not like we're losing focus or anything._ "

" _That's precisely what I'm worried about, case in point 6 o'clock low,_ " Mir quickly called out.

The Duel turned on its 'heel' and blasted a suicide snubfighter, causing it to be consumed by a fireball. " _Thank you,_ " he said to her pleasantly.

"You're welcome, dear," Mir replied with a smug look. "Ten o'clock high, fighter formation."

" _I got them,_ " Tolle nodded as he fired off an EMP grenade into the formation, disabling their electronics before an HE grenade finished them off.

" _Have we lost any yet?"_ Sai frowned as he formed a giant beam sword - one of the Aegis' more recent upgrades, and sliced off a bridge, watching dispassionately as several Batarians were sucked out into space.

" _Some minor damage to some of the newer pilots, but nothing major,_ " Mir informed politely. " _Thankfully there have been no major injuries yet._ "

" _Everything's going well then,"_ Tolle grinned.

" _We didn't get word of any reinforcements hanging back from the Quarians, so I guess this is all they have,"_ Sai nodded, glancing around at the battlefield around them. The fighting was starting to get thinner and thinner as the utterly one-sided confrontation decimated the Batarians' numbers. Quite a few of them had started to cut and run, although never getting far before getting struck down.

" _Alright people, wrap things up,_ " Kira announced over the comm lines. " _We have diplomats to get back to the table._ "

"Riiiight," Mir drawled as she sniped out another bridge with the Buster's guns in sniper cannon mode.

" _It had to happen eventually,_ " Tolle pointed out as he fired a beam into the cockpit of a fighter that was trying to flee. " _It_ has _been rather one sided hasn't it?_ "

" _We caught them by surprise after all, and their shields are useless against beam weapons,"_ Sai nodded. _"Here's hoping that they keep that weakness…"_

" _Agreed,_ " Tolle commented as he floated amongst the debris littering the field searching for targets. " _All clear here._ "

"Buster to _Archangel_ , we've mopped up the reds in our area. Anywhere else we're needed?" Mir called out over the comms after a bit of fiddling around with her radio.

"Archangel _here, sector four near the Migrant Fleet has a couple of stragglers that need to be dealt with,_ " Natarle informed calmly. " _Once you're finished with them, return back to the ship for debriefing._ "

"Roger that," the brunette Buster pilot acknowledged. "Sai, we could use a boost, if you please?"

Sai sighed as the Aegis shifted to its MA form for the pair to grab onto him. " _What am I, a taxi service?_ " he complained rhetorically.

" _You're the one with the blazing fast mobile armour mode,_ " Tolle pointed out with a snicker, the Duel grabbing onto a purpose-built handhold. " _If Jade was here, we'd probably be asking that speedster instead_."

"She's always happy to show off too," Mir sighed as she recalled some particular incidents… outside of a mobile suit. "I swear her baby bump never slowed her driving down one bit… urgh, just thinking about it makes me sick."

Tolle chuckled weakly. " _And which is why we've held off for as long as we have,_ " he agreed as they neared their newly assigned sector. " _'Sides, we're both pretty committed to piloting for Fenrir at the moment anyways…_ "

"I'm surprised Hanami's back on the battlefield after being out of action for so long though," Mir mused, glancing over at the Exodus' indicator on her sensor grid. "I thought she'd be happy being a full time mum."

" _Sometimes… the need to protect is stronger than the need to nurture, I guess,_ " Sai commented with a shrug as the pair let go of his unit, allowing him to shift back into MS mode and open fire on the remaining stragglers. " _She was there since_ Heliopolis _after all._ "

" _I heard she stormed into Murrue's office and_ demanded _to be allowed to join the battle with Jinn,_ " Tolle supplied, taking aim at several fleeing fighters and squeezing the trigger only to grumble as Mir's shotgun pellets turned them into space dust first. " _Oi, I had them marked!_ "

"You snooze, you lose, dear," Mir stuck out her tongue playfully. "I'm starting to think we're getting too nonchalant about this fight though."

Sai sniggered as he watched the couple's back. " _Her expression must've been something when Murrue said that they were planning on her participating anyway,_ " he commented dryly.

" _She thinks she got the drop on Jinn, but he anticipated it anyway and told Murrue beforehand,_ " Tolle chuckled. " _I heard Murrue say that was the first time she'd ever seen a_ surprised _-looking Noh mask. Wish I'd seen it._ "

Sai chuckled in agreement. " _It would have been quite the sight_ ," he said in amusement.

"What, really, a _surprised_ mask? Damn, I should've been there with my camera…" Mir exclaimed, smacking her helmet in regret. She was, hence, a second too late pulling the trigger as her target took a beam through the cockpit. "Grrr."

" _You snooze, you lose_ ," Tolle parroted, the Duel lowering its slightly warm beam rifle.

" _Oh dear, here they go again,_ " Sai sighed as he shook his head.

"Oh, it is on, buster!" Mir growled, whipping out all the Buster's weapons.

" _That's your own Gundam!_ " Tolle let out a cheeky reply as the Duel's thrusters flared and sent it flying into the middle of the fray with its beam saber drawn.

A loud, frustrated harrumph came from Mir's end as she refused to deign him with a reply.

" _You two do realize that there's only ten snubfighters left, right?_ " Sai questioned dryly.

Five of the fighters went down to combined shotgun and beam fire in the same time the other five were perforated by beams and slashed apart by a beam saber.

"Zero left," came the simultaneous reply from the couple.

" _Right… well… guess I'm playing Taxi again then,_ " Sai commented, rolling his eyes as he shifted back to MA mode. " _So… how do you think the rest of the negotiations will go?_ "

" _Draw_?" Tolle offered.

"Hmmph! I killed them faster!" Mir argued.

" _It was a draw_ ," Sai said, interjecting as a neutral party. " _Tolle was mostly using beam sabers anyways._ "

" _You heard the impartial judge_ ," Tolle grinned.

"Hmph."

" _You both are just going to go at it like rabbits anyways, so what does it matter?_ " Sai asked pointedly. " _Is bragging rights really that important to you?_ "

"Hmph."

" _She's getting spanked later, that's why,_ " Tolle had a shit-eating grin decorating his face.

" _TMI, Tolle, TMI,_ " Sai groaned, wanting to rub his temples, but his helmet wouldn't let him.

" _*Ahem*_ " the clearing of a throat caught their attention. " _You do realize that you're on the TACOM, right?_ " Murrue asked pleasantly.

" _Aw, the others get to talk about this kind of stuff and I don't?_ " Tolle pouted.

"Tolle…"

" _Not when your Fiance wants to keep it private, no,_ " Sai said dryly.

" _Oh boy,_ " Tolle paled and promptly began legging it back to the _Archangel_.

"I'm going to kill you, Tolle!" the Buster followed behind oozing an aura of bloody murder.

" _This… is going to be an interesting Debrief…_ " Sai commented as a depressed aura surrounded him as he continued along to the _Archangel_.

Several pairs of blue eyes stared out through helmet visors, through an observation port at the battle that hadn't been so much a battle as an entirely one-sided slaughter. More than one pair of hands shook, having witnessed the dreaded slavers ended so easily at the hands of technology so foreign to them. Some in awe, some in fear, some in excitement.

"Keelah, who are they?"

"The slavers… they were nothing to them!"

"Directed energy weapons that can simply ignore barriers! Amazing!"

"These are the Humans that the Admirals were negotiating with?"

"W-what if they turn those weapons on us?"

"Are they going to try and enslave us to 'help' us?"

"Don't panic!" another Quarian called out to calm the impending chaos. "The Admiralty Board has been dealing with these aliens! We can only trust them to make the most appropriate decision for the Migrant Fleet!"

The crowd murmured amongst themselves as they slowly began to disperse to return to their duties and begin repairing the damage to their vessels.

"I still want to study their technology…"

"Wonder what the Council will do when they find out about them?"

" _Can_ they even do anything?"

"You saw how their weapons ripped through the mass barriers! And their giant robots can turn so much better than any fighter! The Citadel Council would never stand a chance!"

"That enough people!" An authoritative voice shouted. "Nothing will happen if we all die because you were all too busy chatting instead of fixing up our home!"

"Yes, sir!" came a chorus from the slackers.

 **END CHAPTER**

 **MOBILE SUIT CODEX**

 **Model Number** : FGM-88 'Midgar'  
 **Unit Type** : Transformable Attack-Use Mobile Suit  
 **Powerplant** : Cold Fusion powered Eezo Core  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Equipment and Design Features** :  
Lightweight Variable Phase Shift Armor  
Armor Lumiere Beam Shields, mounted in forearms  
 **Fixed Armament** :  
2 x AA-X22 20mm CIWS, mounted in head  
2 x XM-2B3 "Ulberht" Amor Lumiere Beam Sabers, mounted in thigh armor, hand carried in use  
2 x RB-I33 Impulse Beam Assault Cannons, mounted on backpack, deployed under shoulders in use, deployed over shoulders in MA mode  
4 x AIX-GAOU-12 12.5mm CIWS, mounted on head in MA mode  
2 x XM-08D "Tyrfing" Beam Blade, mounted on wings in MA mode, deployed to the sides in use, hand carried in use  
 **Optional Armaments:  
** 2x Type-33K Compact Beam Assault Rifles, hand carried in use, mounted on flanks in MA mode  
 **Pilot(s)** : Stella Hisanaga  
 **Appearance** : Sleeker version of the original Gaia, bears an extra set of shorter verniers on the backpack, mostly black with red trim and dark green highlights  
 **Info** : One of the newest generation of Gundam units developed by Fenrir, specifically for the use of Stella Hisanaga. Using the Gaia developed by ZAFT as a base, several modifications were made to it to allow for greater use in more environments, such as self sustained flight in atmosphere in both modes.

 **Model Number** : FGM-112 'Ship Buster'  
 **Unit Type** : Heavy Artillery Use Mobile Suit  
 **Powerplant** : Heavy Cold Fusion powered Eezo Core  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Fixed Equipment and Design Features** :  
 _Grandr_ Sublifter Pack  
Heavy-Class Verniers  
Cruiser-Class Armor Lumiere Beam Shield Generator  
Long-Range Targeting Scope  
Heavy Phase Shift Armor  
 **Fixed Armament** :  
2x AA-X22 20mm CIWS, mounted in head  
2x XM-2B3 "Ulberht" Amor Lumiere Beam Sabers, mounted in thigh armor, hand carried in use  
 _Grandr_ Sublifter  
4x XCA-11 'Fenris' Anti-Air Cannons  
2x DX-21 'Lognir' 350mm Hyper-Agni Cannons  
6x Micro missile pods  
 **Optional Armaments:  
** ARX-91 High Impact Beam Rifle  
XXI-45 'Grand' Heavy Impulse Beam Launcher  
 **Pilot(s)** : Dearka Elsmen  
 **Appearance** : Similar frame to the Buster Dagger with added armor and a sublifter similar to the Justice's mounted on its back. Colored dark brown with white and green highlights  
 **Info** : An upgraded version of the GAT-X103 Buster Gundam developed by Fenrir, the Ship Buster more than lives up to its name with the multitude of heavy weapons it carries allowing it to wreak havoc on the enemy fleet from afar when used in conjunction with the Long-Range Targeting scope.

 **Model Number** : MBF-P07C 'Exodus Century'  
 **Unit Type** : Multipurpose Modular Mobile Suit  
 **Powerplant** : Cold Fusion powered Eezo Core  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Equipment and Design Features** :  
Variable Phase Shift Armor  
Hardpoint System  
Weapon Hanger System  
Mirage Colloid  
Armor Lumiere Beam Shields, mounted in forearms  
 **Fixed Armament** :  
2x "Igelstellung " 75mm Multi-barrel Anti Air CIWS  
4 x XM-4A7 "Teiwaz" Melee DRAGOONs, mounted on side skirt armour. Can be used as handheld beam sabers.  
 **Optional Armaments:  
** 1x XR-20 'Sommerlich III' 57mm Beam Multi-Rifle, can add several different add-ons to change role  
Sniper Rifle (barrel) + Extended Stock (stock) + Long-Range Radar Scope, requires free arm hardpoint. Can fire either physical ammunition (more stealthy) or beams. Silenced too.  
Beam Gatling (barrel) + Liquid Cooling (stock), requires nearby water source, includes pipes.  
Beam Bayonet (underbarrel)  
Physical Shotgun (underbarrel)  
Physical 152mm High-Velocity Cannon (underbarrel), cannot be fired on the move  
1x XR-24A2 'Atlas II' High-Density Beam Rifle/120mm Linear Cannon/Anti-ship Sword  
1x XB-30 'Drachen' Revolver Bazooka  
2x Arm Hardpoints:  
Extra Beam Saber Wrist Mount  
'Travesty' Anti-Ship Sword  
2x Rear Hardpoints:  
Cargo Container/Missile Launcher  
Cargo Container  
Weapon Hanger  
'Avenger IX' 50mm beam gatling  
'Equus II' Virus Harpoon  
1x Backpack Hardpoint:  
Multipurpose Backpack (1x heavy weapon hardpoint, 2x standard rear hardpoints)  
Dual 100mm Gatling Gun  
'Siegfried' Multiphase Beam Launcher  
'Schlagen Kanone' 450mm Siege Howitzer  
MLRS  
'Drohnen' Heavy Mass Driver  
Turbines w/ torpedo launchers (for underwater combat)  
Scout Backpack - allows the Exodus to perform FTL jumps and make planetfall by itself.  
 **Pilot(s)** : Hanami Hisanaga  
 **Appearance** :  
 **Info** : Heavily-upgraded version of the original Exodus, with a lot of functions now downsized and built into the frame of the unit instead of requiring equipment changes. Barely even resembles the old Exodus anymore despite still carrying the same name and designation.

 **Model Number** : FTM-100 Spectre  
 **Unit Type** : High-Speed Interception-use Transformable mobile Suit  
 **Powerplant** : Eezo Core  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Equipment and Design Features** :  
Phase Shift Armor  
Hypervelocity Impulse Verniers  
 **Fixed Armament** :  
2x 'Igelstellung ' 75mm Multi-barrel Anti Air CIWS  
4x 'Schwert' 70mm Auto-cannons, 2 mounted on each wing, MA mode only  
2x XM-2B3 "Ulberht" Amor Lumiere Beam Sabers, mounted in thigh armor, hand carried in use  
2x 4-barrel missile launchers, loaded with Heat-seeking rockets  
 **Optional Armaments:  
** Type-33C Beam Assault Carbine, hand carried in use, mounted on right wing in MA mode  
Type-89 Linear Rifle, mounted on backpack, on left wing in MA mode  
 **Pilot(s)** : Many  
 **Appearance** : MA mode is similar to the Exceed Mobile armor from LoaM while the MS mode looks like a mix of the Murasame and the Wing Gundam  
 **Info** : An interception mobile suit developed by Fenrir based upon the Exceed Mobile Armor, praised by many for it's high speed and maneuverability, the Spectre has become a mainstay unit within Fenrir, despite it's light armament, it's agility more than making up for it in the hands of a skilled pilot.

 **Model Number** : FTM-200 'Wolfpack Dagger'  
 **Unit Type** :Customized Transformable Ace-use Mobile Suit  
 **Powerplant** : Nuclear powered Eezo Core  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Equipment and Design Features** :  
Lightweight Phase Shift Armor  
Armor Lumiere Beam Shield, mounted in left forearm  
 **Fixed Armament** :  
2 x AA-X22 20mm CIWS, mounted in head  
2 x XM-2B3 "Ulberht" Amor Lumiere Beam Sabers, mounted in thigh armor, hand carried in use  
1 x RB-I33 Impulse Beam Assault Cannons, mounted on backpack, deployed under right shoulder in use in MS mode, deployed over head in MA mode  
4 x AIX-GAOU-12 12.5mm CIWS, mounted on head in MA mode  
2 x XM-08D "Tyrfing" Beam Blade, mounted on wings in MA mode, deployed to the sides in use, hand carried in MS mode  
 **Optional Armaments:  
** 1x Type-32KC Compact Beam Carbine, hand carried in use, mounted on right flank in MA mode  
 **Pilot(s)** : Wolfpack Squad  
 **Appearance** : Similar frame to the Wild Dagger without the gatling cannon and has the verniers of the Gaia gundam and a single cannon over it's head in MA mode.  
 **Info** : Based off of the Midgar Gundam, the Wolfpack Dagger is used exclusively by the Wolfpack squad led by Stella Hisanaga. The unit, while not as powerful as the Midgar - lacking a Cold Fusion powered Eezo Core and Variable Phase Shift armor, in the skilled hands of the Wolfpack squad, the Wolfpack Dagger has made a name for itself as a powerful Ace model Mobile Suit.

 **SHIP CODEX**

 _Diligence_ -class  
 **Ship Type** : Limited Production Space Use Super Assault Carrier  
 **Powerplant** : Large Cold Fission Reactor( **Fenrir** ); Compact Nuclear Reactors( **Others** )  
 **Manufacture:** Morgenroete, Terminal, Fenrir, Integrated Design Bureau, Anaheim Electronics  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir, Sol Council, Terminal  
 **Known Ships:  
** _Havok_ (Fenrir) _  
Wishbringer_ (Terminal)  
 _Shinpan_ (Sol Council) **  
Special Armor and Equipment:  
** Laminated Plated Titanium-Carbonite Armor  
Sensors, range unknown  
DRAGOON Control Center  
12x Mobile Suit Catapults, Eight Facing Forward, Four Aft  
N-Jammer Cancellers  
 **Armaments** :  
20x 'Regent' Triple Barreled Rotary Beam Cannons  
10x 'Broadside' 250mm Beam Cannons, mounted on the Aft of the ship  
5x 'Glepnir' Dual Barreled Positron Cannons  
50x Multi Missile Launchers  
1x Hyper Impulse Beam Cannon 'Aufstand'  
Many x Pulse Beam CIWS Anti-Missile Turrets  
Many x DRAGOON Beam Cannons  
Many x DRAGOON Fangs  
Many x DRAGOON Beam Assault Bits  
Many x DRAGOON Shield Bits  
 **Carries:  
** 50x Assorted Mobile Suits **  
Known Captains:  
** _Havok_ \- Ferris Takamichi  
 _Wishbringer_ \- Wanda McMasters  
 _Shinpan_ \- Captain Todaka **  
Known Crew:  
** Many **  
Sections:  
** Bridge  
Pilot Ready Room  
Hanger  
Armory  
Maintenance Bay  
Engine Room  
Infirmary  
Cafeteria  
Barracks  
Officer Quarters  
Shooting Range  
Armory  
 _Fenrir Upgrade  
_ Indoor Hot Springs  
Workshop  
 **Info:** The Pinnacle of both Natural and Coordinator technologies, the _Diligence_ line is considered to be the _most_ expensive ship to be ever produced by _anyone_ in the Sol Council, requiring Morgenroete, Anaheim Electronics, Integrated Design Bureau, Terminal and Fenrir to come together to produce the three units, one going to the Sol Council, another to Terminal and the final unit going to Fenrir where it was rumoured to be further upgraded.  
 **Appearance:** Looks like the _General Rivel_ with several additional missile banks where the DRAGOON units are loaded and launched.

 _Pathfinder_ -class  
 **Ship Type** : Exploration and Deep Space Recon  
 **Manufacture:** Sol Council  
 **Operator(s):** Sol Council, Fenrir  
 **Known Ships:  
** _George Glenn  
Christopher Columbus_ **  
Special Armor and Equipment:  
** Deep Space Comms Equipment  
Enhanced Sensor Suite  
Mirage Colloid System  
Solar Charging Panels  
Lightweight Laminated Armor  
Gravity Generators  
Eezo Reactor  
 **Armaments** :  
2x Dual beam cannon turrets  
2x Missile pods  
 **Carries:  
** 2x Mobile Suits or 5x small Mobile Armors  
 **Known Captains:  
** _George Glenn_  
Captain Crista Silver  
 _Christopher Columbus_  
Captain Mike Howell  
 **Known Crew:  
** _George Glenn_  
Lieutenant Mike Schurig  
Ensign Delilah Renin  
Ensign Frederick Singer  
 **Sections:**  
Lounge  
Rec Room  
Sensor Room  
Dorms  
Pilot Ready Room  
Hanger  
Bridge  
 **Appearance:** Similar to the Canon System's Alliance Cruiser with more curves than angles, turrets mounted on 'wings' while mobile suits are launched from the 'belly'


	3. Chapter 2: Treaties and Change

**Disclaimer** : None of us own Gundam SEED or Mass Effect

 **Chapter Two: Treaties and Change**

* * *

Jinn sighed as he locked his unit into place in the _Archangel's_ hanger and climbed out of his unit.

"Jinn! I've missed you!" a silver-haired speeding bullet tackled him and declared as she wrapped herself around Jinn when he reached the hangar floor.

Jinn groaned in response as he looked at his wife. "It was only a couple of hours tops you know," he commented in response.

Hanami just winked and stuck out her tongue in a show of her maturity.

"I'm amazed how those two can still act like newlyweds decades after their marriage," Dearka muttered in slight awe at the scene, pulling his helmet off.

Yzak grunted in reply. "I just wish they'd hold off when they're on a warship," he complained. "We _do_ have an image to maintain in front of the dignitaries after all."

"Which… aren't in the area I think?" Tolle scanned the hangar for a moment. He relaxed visibly when he saw no sign of the suited aliens.

"Was that someone being jealous of a couple there?" Mir snickered as she bounced over to join Tolle.

"No, I just wish they'd show some professionalism for once," Yzak countered with a snort. "I know they're not on the roster list as active duty pilots, but they're still role models for the newer recruits."

"I think we've become famous as the debauchery mercenary guild already so I'm not sure if they have much of a reputation to uphold?" Sai pointed out, adjusting his glasses. "I've been keeping up to date with the forums on the internet, a lot of people seem to think we secretly have a lot of harems here."

Yzak let out a groan as he palmed his face. "No wonder Luna is questioning me about my secret harem," he complained.

"Luna?" Dearka blinked.

"Luna?" Nicole blinked.

"Luna?" Sai blinked.

"Who's Luna?" Mir blinked.

"Luna?" Tolle stared at Yzak.

"Ah… just a friend among the pilots on the _Havok_ ," Yzak replied quickly.

"Hey, hey, you can't leave us hanging like that, buddy…" Dearka put his arm around Yzak's shoulder. Tightly. "Spill."

"This is looking really interesting…" Mir's eyes were flashing as she listened intently to the conversation. "Yzak, spill it, or we'll make you spill."

"Like I said… just a friend," Yzak reiterated stubbornly.

"Hey, you still remember that time he pissed off Hanami and got hung from the-" Dearka was cut off mid-sentence.

"Shut it or I shut it for you," Yzak growled, elbowing Dearka sharply in the side.

"Oh, I think Dearka has the right idea there…" Tolle smirked as he began scanning the hangar.

"Stop it you guys…" Sai groaned. "Yzak, I'm declaring first, I'm not involved in this, alright?"

Nicole was whistling innocently as he tried very hard to make it look like he wasn't listening in to the conversation cum blackmailing session.

"I will _murder_ each and every one of you if you dare…" Yzak growled angrily as his eye twitched.

"Hey Jormungand Team! I've got something to-mmmmph!" Tolle called out to a group of pilots, then was cut off by a hand over his mouth.

"Ignore the idiot!" Yzak growled at the squad as they looked over. "Fine, you want to know so badly, Luna is my girlfriend…"

"Girlfriend?" Dearka blinked.

"Girlfriend?" Nicole repeated.

"Girlfriend?" Sai blinked.

"Yzak has a girlfriend?" Mir blinked.

"Mmmmphph?" Tolle's mouth was still being covered.

"Yes I have a girlfriend, and this right here is why I didn't tell any of you," Yzak growled. "Just… don't make a big deal of it, we're keeping it on the down low right now."

"Ooooh…" Dearka nodded, though his expression shifted from curious to depressed soon as he stood up and walked over to a corner, squatting down as a depressed aura appeared around him. "Why… even my best buddy has a girlfriend now and I still haven't found even one…" he began drawing circles on the floor.

"What? I thought you and Fubuki were going out?" Tolle questioned in false surprise.

"Shut up…" Dearka's forehead met the side of a crate repeatedly. "Ow. Ow. Ow."

"I heard my name?" said trap poked his head out from behind a nearby crate. "Oh, so you guys were here all this while."

"We were just talking about Dearka's lack of girlfriends," Tolle commented teasingly.

"He hasn't gone out even once in the years since the Second Bloody Valentine War," Nicole elaborated.

"Oh," Fubuki blinked several times. "Umm… well… you'll find the right one eventually?"

Dearka's aura of depression intensified.

"I don't think that helped him very much," Mir giggled.

"Mm, not surprised after his confession was so soundly denied," Sai pitched in in agreement with a nod. "He was so sad that day back on ORB…"

Fubuki let out some sheepish laughter at that particular memory.

The sounds of Dearka's forehead meeting metal got louder.

"Enough taunting Dearka for now guys," Yzak sighed in response, rubbing his temples. "Remember we have go to the debriefing and I want Dearka capable of using coherent sentences."

"Not a girl, not a girl…" Dearka muttered to himself. "Fubuki is a guy…"

"Ah… I hope it's not too late for that," Mir scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"And this is why I'm always on about professionalism," Yzak groaned again as he led the way to the briefing room.

"There there, at some point they'll get better at it," Sai assured with a pat on the back. "Or… you'll stop caring, not sure which to be honest…"

* * *

"An entire slaver fleet… wiped out in less than an hour…" Admiral Daro'Xen whispered in awe.

"Their machines are very impressive," Admiral Han'Gerral agreed with a nod. "Even if they were pirates using second-hand equipment, they completely negated any advantages they had just by closing in the distance and use of tactics…"

"Not to mention the fact that weapons like these have never been seen before in Citadel Space," Rael'Zorah commented in agreement. "The possibilities are endless, especially if what they say about their use in construction is true."

"Those ridiculous weapons simply ignore shields too!" Zaal'Koris shook his head in disbelief. "Sure ablative armour might take the edge off, but they still completely bypassed our usual first line of defence!"

"It is… definitely something," Shala'Raan said in agreement. "But, we have something important to discuss, the offer of the Sol Council…"

"Seeing this… really puts everything into perspective," Han'Gerral nodded in agreement. "Their offers definitely benefit us as a people…"

Shala'Ran nodded. "The Migrant Fleet would benefit greatly from the added stability and military protection."

"Not to mention the technological advances possible with their technology!" Daro'Xen said excitedly. "Functional energy weapons that have a range greater than that of the GARDIAN lasers!"

"The young ones will be clamoring even more to do their Pilgrimages with the humans now…" Rael'Zorah groaned…

"If we join them… there wouldn't be a _need_ for the pilgrimage," Zaal'Koris pointed out. "There would no longer be a need to prove your worth to a captain so that you could have a room on a ship… they offered us one of their orbital habitats."

"This does not mean we are giving up on Rannoch," Shala'Ran declared firmly. "We are simply going to use the opportunity to set up a more stable base of operations that isn't falling apart and advance our knowledge."

"And who knows, maybe we _can_ negotiate with the Geth like they want us to," Zaal'Koris suggested hopefully. "And avoid pointless bloodshed."

Han'Gerral was silent for several moments. "Very well… there's no sense in having the entire Quarian race die trying to regain Rannoch…" he sighed.

"Let us contact the rest of the Conclave," Shala'Ran nodded. "I'm sure they'll want a good explanation."

"Indeed," Han'Gerral agreed with a nod. "I have feeling though, that we will be joining the Sol Council."

"I don't believe we'll see much opposition either," Rael'Zorah nodded. "Especially from the young ones that want to study their technology…"

"So, all in favor of joining the Sol Council?" Daro'Xen questioned, looking around at the other Admirals.

They all looked at each other before nodding. "All in favor," Rael'Zorah affirmed. "The Migrant Fleet will join the Sol Council."

"This is a historical moment," Daro'Xen chuckled. "But we'll have to beat the young ones away from the shuttles for a while lest they try to jump ship to study the humans."

"We will have to keep them in check. As exciting as the possibilities are, we have to understand that this is their technology," Shala'Raan explained. "We cannot push them to reveal what they don't want to reveal."

"This will be a good opportunity to finally give some of our ships the refits they need," Han'Gerral added. "So many repairs are best done in drydock with no one onboard… and I know the Getsis has an Eezo core defect that causes the artificial gravity to fail every few days. That one can't be fixed completely without drydocking it."

"For now, let's share the news with the rest of the fleet," Kaal'Zoris said with a nod. "Along with our new allies."

* * *

"Alright now that _everyone_ is here, we can start," Ryu announced, sending a disapproving look at a certain group of pilots who flinched. "All said and done, we now have captured three Cruiser-class ships, and one Frigate. For prisoners we only have about a dozen and a half who surrendered, one Captain for them. Now for the fun parts, duty assignments, _Heliopolis_ Squad, you are on supply detail, look through their cargo and document it all!"

"Yes sir!" Yzak promptly saluted smartly with a small glare at the others of his squad.

Dearka and Tolle were whistling innocently, very quietly.

"If only you guys would've just shut up for once," Sai groaned in frustration.

"Hanami, we're going to need your help feeding the freed slaves," Ryu informed, looking through his tablet for the next item on the list. "Keep in mind they haven't had solid food in weeks, so stick to liquids, there are a pair of dextro-aminos that the Quarians are willing to take care of."

"Right, but I'm not sure if my cooking will appeal to them…" Hanami scratched her chin in contemplation. "Or what kind of flavours they normally prefer…"

"Apparently the blue skinned female race is very similar to us, but the Quarians are using their Extranet access to get us some recipes for you to work off of," Kira offered with a smile. "Lacus will be with you to explain the situation and why we can't return them home yet."

Hanami consulted her own tablet for a moment. "Kira-chan… you do realize I can't use those recipes anyway because I have no idea what a… doopifocus or a klakon is?" she furrowed her brow. "Never mind, I'll just whip up some Earth cuisine for them and see if they like it."

"Considering the rations we found onboard, I think they'll be grateful for a warm meal for once," Kira replied. "Next up, Jinn, we're going to need your help sifting through all of the data we mined from their computers."

"You got it," Jinn nodded in understanding. "I'll do what I can with Sentry."

"Thank you. Alright, Shadow Squad you're on picket duty now," Ryu announced, looking to the next item on the list. Life continued on as normal for Fenrir, just another day on the job.

* * *

"Cool guns," Dearka whistled as he held up a blocky object that promptly unfolded and expanded in his hands to reveal it was a gun. "I wonder how they work? I'm not seeing any magazines, but they clearly weren't firing energy weapons at us. And we didn't get much from the Quarians aside from the simplified fact that they all use mass drivers as weapons."

"It'll be fun to take them apart when we get a chance," Tolle said in agreement as he checked through a crate of what looked to be rations of some kind. "But don't take it apart _until_ we get clearance, I don't want the bosses on us for messing with the gear we're supposed to be cataloguing."

"Can we at least fire off a few shots?" Dearka grinned. "There has to be a shooting range somewhere here on the ship."

"You and your guns, Dearka," Sai rolled his eyes.

"I would like to get this done sometime soon, so no," Mir denied with a stern look at the tanned blond. "Now keep cataloguing."

"Yes, ma'am!" Tolle saluted.

"Well, inventory duty isn't that bad… it's kind of calming," Nicole said as he opened up a crate of armour.

"That's just you, Nicole," Mir muttered, trying and having some difficulty lifting a heavy box.

"Ahahahah…" Fubuki laughed sheepishly, peering into a rectangular box, scanning it with his tablet and updating their shared list. "I find it calming too, some monotonous work where I can let my brain relax a little."

"Are you two secretly aliens?" Tolle blinked.

"Considering they grew up on earth and we have access to their genetic profiles, I highly doubt it," Yzak grunted as he checked a larger box. "Huh, they got mechs of some kind as well."

"Patchy and puny mechs," Dearka commented, walking over and peering in.

"Still, could be worth researching," Yzak pointed out. "Less troops we use in the field, less chances there are for major losses."

"I think they've got some alien artifacts over here too," Fubuki called out from where he has inspecting some other boxes. "I have no idea how to catalogue these…"

"Just put them under Alien Artifacts, and mark them for further study," Mir replied. "Do they match anything we've found already?"

"No, they're completely different," Fubuki shook his head. "You know, it's a really good thing we decided to take the ships as intact as possible otherwise we might not have found these."

"Mark them for immediate study then," Mir instructed as she checked her tablet. "May be something about them that we could use."

"Right," Fubuki nodded, making the adjustments on his tablet.

"Oooh, this looks like fun," Dearka hefted what looked like an oversized shotgun. "Can I keep this?"

Tolle made a quick scan on the weapon. "Not unless you want to kill yourself from the recoil on the first shot," he countered with a worried look. "A race _uses_ those things?"

"It looks big and shooty though…" Dearka sighed, setting the gun back down.

"Shooty isn't even an actual word," Sai rolled his eyes.

"Got some kind of implants here," Mir announced. "From the translation… looks biotic in nature."

"Biotic, huh," Tolle rolled the word around his tongue thoughtfully. "Hard to believe we're actually seeing that kind of stuff in reality now."

"Isn't Karen biotic?" Sai questioned. "I remember Lacus getting exposed to Eezo during an experiment…"

"Seen her glowing blue-black and beaning Ryu on the head with a tablet she never laid her hands on once, so I'd say yes," Tolle chuckled at the memory.

"It's rather impressive how quickly she was able to adapt to them," Dearka commented as he continued rooting through the weapons. "But I suppose the fact that Sentry advised them how to modify her genetics for better support helped with that."

"Oh yeah, Sentry did mention that biotic tech already existed during his time," Mir realized. "Sometimes it's easy to forget how old he is."

"Tell me about it, and that's just with what he _remembers_ ," Nicol sighed as he shook his head. "He lost a _lot_ of data over the years."

"The ancients were scary," the brunette pilot muttered, shuddering slightly.

"And the Reapers beat them anyways," Yzak grunted in frustration. "But hey, they didn't seem to have the weapons we do, right?"

"Yeah, we developed beam weaponry independently from Prothean influence after all," Dearka agreed. "And we saw how effective they are against mass shielding already."

"But the Reapers are more advanced than the Council Races," Mir sighed in reply.

"It's not something the Reapers will likely have countermeasures for though," Dearka grinned. "They're used to fighting people that pretty much just keep using mass drivers on them."

"True enough," Tolle nodded in agreement. "Guess we'll find out when the time comes just how effective we are against them."

 ***FLASH***

"KYAAH!"

"What the hell?" Yzak shouted as everyone reacted, pulling out their side arms, looking over towards where the silveret was. "Fubuki, check in!"

"Ugh… my… head…" Fubuki groaned. "Opened… box… artifact… flash…"

There was a sound of a suit-clad body crumpling to the ground.

"We need a medic in storage room 9!" Nicole shouted into a commline. "Fubuki is down!"

"Well fuck me, we should've gotten Hazmat suits or something!" Dearka swore, rushing over to where the silveret had been downed. He blinked in surprise when he saw a blue-black cloud of… something floating around his friend. "The fuck is that?"

"Keep back," Yzak ordered, holding back Dearka from rushing forward. "We don't know what's happening or if it can spread or not, wait for the Biotic Specialists to get here."

"Dammit, we should've had experts look into the artifacts instead when we found out they had them," Sai growled, taking cover behind one of the larger crates.

"We didn't know that it was going to be anything like that," Tolle replied as he gestured to Fubuki. "And between Fenrir and the Sol Council there are only _five_ Biotic Specialists."

"Fuck," Dearka cursed.

The cloud hovered ominously over Fubuki for several moments before it dove into his mouth, although he didn't show any pain, just discomfort if anything as he squirmed and twitched… before eventually falling still once it was all inside.

"What the fuck is it doing?" Tolle cursed angrily as he watched. "Nicole, how long until the specialists get here?"

"Five minutes!" Nicole replied. "Medical personnel and HAZMAT crews are with them!"

"Fubuki's suit readings are stable, but he seems to be comatose!" Mir shouted.

"Keep recording, the medics will need it to figure out what's happened," Yzak instructed calmly. "We don't know what's going on with this, but we're going to need all the data we can get to figure it out."

"Right," the others confirmed grimly, looking at their friend in concern as they waited.

* * *

"Ara…" Hanami blinked at the sight of the shattered dish she had thrown and somehow accidentally missed the dishwasher.

"Are you alright, Hanami?" one of the kitchen staff questioned warily - Hanami was known for her ridiculous throwing ability with her dishes in the kitchen, for her to break one was practically unheard of.

Hanami kept staring at the remnants of the dish, paling slightly. "That's… not a good sign," she whispered.

"H-huh?" the woman replied in confusion.

* * *

"He's stable at the moment," a medic informed as her specialized equipment scanned the comatose Fubuki. "But… something's strange, whatever the energy is seems to be trying to repair some kind of damage…"

"Hanami's going to kill us," Mir said morosely.

Yzak swallowed rather loudly.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault," a younger man pointed out, black-blue energy swirling around him as he tried to counteract the field. "It seems to be reacting to genetic markers of some kind, no way to know about that, any other Coordinator would've caused it to react."

"Can you get him out?" Dearka questioned worriedly.

"Think I just about got it," the biotic replied. "Seems to be an eezo based stasis… so if I do _this..._ " he grunted as the field around Fubuki collapsed, allowing the medic to pull him away from the artifact. "Then he should be freed… damn I'm starving now…"

"Go get some food, his sister's in the _Archangel's_ kitchen now and you don't want to miss her food," the medic nodded, checking Fubuki's vitals using his suit even as he was hoisted onto a stretcher. "He's still comatose."

"Hanami's going to hang me from the cannons again…" Yzak whimpered, cowering in a corner in full blown panic mode.

"Come on Yzak, Fubuki needs us right now," Mir encouraged as she dragged him along with the others following the medical team.

"He alright?" the medic jerked a thumb at Yzak.

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of _his_ sister," Tolle replied, pointing to Fubuki.

"Oh," the medic blinked. "Well then, shall I recommend him to a shrink?"

"We tried," half of the squad chorused in reply. "He's not _this_ bad normally… only when _she_ might be angry."

"I'll explain things to her then. She can't be that bad, right?" the medic patted Yzak's back. "I mean,given the way she usually acts…"

"She is the _devil_ ," Yzak whimpered fearfully. "The devil hides behind kindness and false air-headedness…"

"She hung him from one of the _Valient's_ weapons back during the early days of Fenrir," Sai explained. "Clad in what could only be described as a 'meat trouser'."

"I'll… keep that in mind," the medic internally updated his list of people not to piss off.

"She won't blame you at least," Tolle informed the medic with a comforting pat on the back.

* * *

A ladle clattered noisily to the floor.

"Fubuki-chan… what?" Hanami whispered hoarsely.

"We're not sure right now," the messenger informed with a regretful look. "Our best medical specialists are with him right now, but, no one is completely certain what's happening with him."

Hanami looked downwards for several moments, clenching her fists tight. "Shiori-chan… hold the kitchen for me, will you?" she whispered evenly, voice cracking as she threw her apron at the hangar and missed completely.

"Of course, go see to your brother, Hanami," the other cook replied as she moved to pick up Hanami's discarded apron. "I'll take care of things here."

"Thanks… Shiori-chan," Hanami nodded slowly, turning on her feet to face the messenger. "Where. Is. He?" she demanded, a faint image of her legendary Noh mask appearing behind her shoulder.

"The medical bay on the station," the messenger informed, keeping his eyes focused on her own. "It was the best equipped to handle the situation, Sentry is already doing his best to help your brother."

Hanami was gone within the second, the kitchen door slamming shut behind her.

"Well, I think I just lost a few years of my life," the messenger said with a hand over his heart.

"Put it that way and I've lost decades," Shiori muttered, taking over Hanami's soup. "She's a hard teacher to learn under, and you practically _have_ to be a Coordinator to keep up with her in the kitchen without getting skewered by flying utensils."

"I feel sorry for the staff then," the messenger replied. "Now… if you excuse me, I need to notify the family on _Earth_ now…"

Shiori raised an eyebrow. "By the way, she learnt the mask thing from her mother."

"Dear lord help me," the messenger breathed, shaking his head.

* * *

"What can you tell me about the field inside of him?" the primary doctor of Fenrir, one Dr. John Manning questioned as he looked over the tablet with the available data.

"It's keeping him in the comatose state," one of the medical techs operating a medical scanner informed. "It seemed to damage his entire gene structure when it entered and is trying to repair the damage, but doesn't seem to have the proper information to do so."

"Can we feed it information?" Mannings questioned as he looked at the scanner.

"No clue, the bosses are having his genetic samples transported, but it's back on Mendel in the Sol Cluster," another tech replied. "It'll take them about four hours to arrive with it."

"Alright, let's see what we can do ourselves with what we have," Mannings told the staff. "We can remove the energy as it seems to be keeping him alive, but when he's healed, we need to be ready to pull it out, any ideas?"

"FUBUKI-CHAN!" a loud yell resounded through the room, as a silverette threw open the doors and stormed into the room, with a pair of giant Noh masks flanking her staring down anyone who tried to get in her way.

"Mrs Hisanaga please put those away, you are in a _medical_ facility with some patients who have weak hearts," Mannings demanded, nonplussed by the silverette's sudden entrance.

"You _will_ let me see my brother right this instant," Hanami growled, both her masks fixing Mannings with an intimidating glare.

"Not until you _put those away_ ," Mannings countered sternly. "You are in a _hospital_ young lady, act like it."

"He has a point, Hanami," Jinn informed as he appeared next to her. "It'll just cause more problems which will take resources away from helping Fubuki."

Hanami took a deep breath, and the aura of doom emanating from her dissipated, along with her floating Noh masks. "I'm… I'm sorry, I'm just… my brother…" she whispered weakly, leaning against Jinn for support.

"I know, the best are here and looking after him," Jinn assured her, patting her back.

"He's stable at the moment," Mannings informed as he stepped aside, allowing them access to his room. "The field that damaged him is also trying to heal him, but doesn't seem to have the data needed to do so."

"... Genetic data, I… assume?" Hanami whispered.

"Yes, we have the genetic sample Fenrir has for him en route already, but it will be a couple hours until it arrives," Mannings confirmed with a nod.

"I'm… his sister, I should at least be able to provide… some part of the data needed," Hanami said quietly.

"It's not that simple I'm afraid," Mannings replied with a shake of his head. "The fact of the matter is, the DNA strands are like a fingerprint, can be slightly similar, but one little change will make all the difference, for good or ill, you might have the markers for a disease he doesn't have that is only active in males, and so on."

"... How long can he keep going like this?" Hanami sagged.

"From what we've observed, almost indefinitely," Mannings replied. "The energy is keeping his body in a suspended state while it tries to heal him, and so long as there is no outside interference, then there shouldn't be any issues."

"So… he'll be alright?" Hanami whispered, still leaning on Jinn.

Mannings sighed. "Please understand that much of this is conjecture and theory," he requested. "While I wish I could give you a guarantee, we just don't know enough about the technology that did this to him, but the theory is sound."

"I… see…" Hanami sagged further. "Is it… alright for me to touch him?"

Mannings consulted his tablet for a moment. "It should be, just, be light, we're not sure how bad the damage is quite yet," he allowed with a nod. "We're afraid his bones may be brittle, so be gentle."

"Jinn-koi, please? Come with me?" Hanami looked at her lover quietly. "I'm… scared."

"Of course," Jinn assured, squeezing her hand comfortingly. "I'm right beside you."

Hanami swallowed loudly before she stepped into the room that held Fubuki. "I… I feel like I let this happen to him," she told Jinn quietly. "Even though it happened away from me, but he's still my… little brother, under my responsibility…"

"It's not your fault, no one knew that this would happen," Jinn told her soothingly. "And you can't protect him forever, you are only human after all."

"I know we had no way of predicting this would happen… but it just makes it all the more frustrating for me because I have no one to blame," Hanami said morose, reaching out to caress her brother's cheek, hesitating slightly before moving in again at a much more controlled pace. "Not even myself."

"He'll be fine, Hanami," Jinn assured as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "The best work here at Fenrir after all."

"It's… funny…" Hanami chuckled weakly. "I guess I understand now… how he and my parents felt when I was hurt that time in Africa…"

"It was a frightening moment, but that's why I'm so confident he'll recover," Jinn replied with an attempted smile. "You made it after all, right?"

"It's a different kind of injury though," Hanami forced a laugh out blithely, tracing what was left of the scar hidden beneath her clothes with a finger. "I was hurt physically, and a physical wound heals much faster than a mental one…"

"But he's still your brother and can be just as stubborn as you," Jinn informed with a small smile. "He won't die, just like you didn't."

"I know the sample we need will only take 4 hours to arrive…" Hanami nodded, blinking back her tears as she caressed Fubuki's cheeks again. "It's going to be an excruciating 4 hours…"

Several droplets of her tears landed on his face.

"Just have faith in him, Hanami," Jinn whispered assurance to her, neither of them noticing the tears being absorbed by his body. "Have faith in your brother's strength."

"Move for a second please," a nurse requested suddenly, forcing the two to back away from the bed. "Mike, replay the video!"

"Right!" the tech replied as he rewound the recording.

"What's… what's going on?" Hanami blinked.

"Your tears that landed on him were absorbed," Mannings replied, eyes narrowed as a zoomed in video showed just that.

"Doctor, we're getting a change," the tech monitoring the energy announced. "The energy is… repairing the damage?"

"Um… is that… bad?" Hanami's eyes widened.

"Not… sure," the tech informed in confusion. "It seems to be using _your_ DNA sequence as a base for repairing his own… I'm… also seeing another DNA strand being used, not human either…"

"I… I'm sorry, I didn't know this would happen!" a distraught Hanami hurriedly bowed low in an apology.

"None of us did, Mrs Hisanaga, please step back so that we can try and understand what's happening," Mannings requested gently as he looked over the information.

"Sir, I'm seeing a change in the chromosomes," a tech announced as he looked up from the screen. "I think that the energy, _whatever_ it is, is using Mrs Hisanaga's DNA strands as a base for 'what should be' rather than directly copying like we thought…"

"Oh," Hanami blinked.

"Sorry, but I think your brother is now going to be your sister," the tech elaborated with a grimace.

Hanami stared dumbly at Fubuki for several moments.

"This is… rather unprecedented," Jinned commented in shock.

"I don't think… it'll be much of a huge… change…?" Hanami let out a weak chuckle. "He's… recovering now though, right?"

"He does have the clothing for it," Jinn agreed with a weak smile.

"Well, more importantly I know he's getting better…" Hanami heaved a sigh of relief. "You know… I feel like I might have overreacted quite a bit just now… he… he wasn't even in critical condition, why was I so scared?"

"Because your family was in danger," Jinn pointed out with a small smile. "Family worries about each other when they're in danger."

"Yeah…" Hanami smiled. "So… how long will it be before Fubuki-chan wakes up?"

"Unsure," Mannings replied with a frown. "If this continues as is he _should_ be healed within the hour, but after that… that would depend on him."

"That's… a good sign at least," the elder silverette sighed heavily.

"Go ahead and get some rest, we'll notify you as soon as he wakes up," the doctor assured.

"I'll be fine here," Hanami assured, pulling up a chair. "I've got to be here when he… she wakes up after all. Jinn-koi, you can go back to your work."

"I can wait with you, Sentry is covering for me," Jinn assured with a smile and hand squeeze.

* * *

Pain. Darkness. Fear.

Fubuki didn't know how long it had been since he'd gotten knocked out, it just felt like barely an hour ago to him. His body felt… odd, heavy, weak. He could feel he was lying on a bed… probably in the hospital judging by the sterile-smelling air, but that was all he could get without opening his eyes. He didn't want to, though, he just wanted to rest… he shifted to one side and realized he couldn't go much further than that for some reason when he tried to turn onto his front, and there was a curious sensation somewhere near his chest…

"Doctor, the patient is waking up!" a voice called out.

"Nnnngh…" Fubuki grumbled softly at the sudden noise and struggled to sit up, wondering why his chest felt so… heavy, like there were a pair of weights sitting on it.

"Keep still, Mr Yukikaze," a masculine voice told him. You've just been through a trying experience, take it easy, alright?"

"Did… anyone get the number of the Zaku that hit me…?" Fubuki tried to joke, wondering why his voice sounded… funny as he opened his eyes slowly.

"I didn't get the number, but I believe it was Prothean by design," Mannings replied as he slowly came into view for the silveret. "Please follow the light," he requested as he shined a penlight into his eyes.

"Ow," Fubuki winced at the sudden light, but followed it anyway. "What… happened to me, doc? I feel… funny all over."

"Pupil dilation is normal," Mannings told an out of sight assistant. "Before I answer you, what is the last thing you remember?"

"Opening… a box with an alien artifact inside… it flashed and I got a really bad… headache…" he whispered, clutching his head. How long had he been out? His hair felt… longer, heavier than before.

Mannings nodded. "Well, the artifact was Prothean in nature, and from what we can tell it was designed to implant biotics into other Protheans," he explained patiently. "And as a Coordinator, it recognized some of your markers as Prothean for some reason. Which I'm sure you can guess, didn't exactly work out."

"So… what happened to me?" Fubuki whispered weakly. "I'm… not part alien now, am I?"

"That… is more difficult to explain," Manning replied after a moment. "Now, when it released energy into you, it damaged your genetic code due to the fact that you were not Prothean before it tried to heal you, only it didn't have any pure genetic data for it to work with, we _were_ going use the genetic data you provided when Mendel was set up, but… there were complications. Your sister's tears landed on you, and the energy ended up using that as a template to repair your body."

"Um," Fubuki raised his… her hand gingerly as she finally looked downwards and found her view blocked by a pair of giant orbs of flesh, covered by a medical gown thankfully. "I… don't remember having… breasts before," she said quietly.

"Like I said, it used your sister's DNA strands as a template to repair your body," Mannings explained patiently. "Effectively changing your gender."

"I'm… a woman now?" Fubuki looked up at the doctor with an aghast expression.

"Yes," Mannings replied with a nod. "I understand that this will be a big change for you, just take your time and take it one step at a time."

"Morning…" Hanami yawned sleepily from a corner of the room where she had been sleeping on Jinn's shoulder, which was very sore by then. "Fubuki… oh…" she blinked. "Wow, Yukikaze genes strike again…"

Against her still male instincts, Fubuki still blushed and covered her chest with her arms.

"Good to see you're up," Jinn pitched in with a nod.

"Fubuki, we heard you were awake!" Dearka rushed into the room and screeched to a halt together with his brain as he took in the sight of a very obviously female Fubuki on the bed wrapped in a medical robe. "Guh?" he managed.

"Oh… oh my," Mir gasped in surprise as the others filed in.

"This… I did not see happening," Tolle commented in shock.

"Uhhhh…" a completely flabbergasted Dearka pointed at Fubuki, unable to formulate any words.

"I… got nothing," Yzak admitted plainly.

"I get it, I get it, I'm a woman now…" Fubuki groaned, looking away with an embarrassed blush. "Umm… uh… Dearka-kun, you're… staring… it's embarrassing…"

Hanami couldn't help letting out a squeal. "Fubuki-chan is too cute!"

"Onee-chan!" Fubuki withdrew furiously under her sheets, trying to hide her blush and only making her seem all the more cuter.

A trail of blood made its way down from Dearka's nose.

"Alright Dearka, as I can see you can't form words, let's give Fubuki a chance to get adjusted, alright?" Mir suggested as she began to try and drag the almost catatonic blond.

"Uh… she wasn't leading me on all these years, was she…?" Dearka whimpered.

"No," Yzak confirmed with a shake of his head, assisting Mir. "With a family like theirs, no way, hope you feel better soon, Fubuki."

"Thanks… Yzak-kun," Fubuki favored the former ZAFT commando with a soft but weak smile.

"She's already got the mannerisms down pat…" Mir sighed.

"Considering what her sister did to her when she was a he?" Tolle questioned as the group left the room.

"If you don't mind, I will need to begin _Miss_ Yukikaze's physical now to update the charts," Mannings informed the family patiently. "If you could get some clothing for her that would be most helpful as, seeing if the physical goes well, I doubt she will need to stay the night."

"I'll get her some of mine, we seem to be about the same size," Hanami volunteered as she got up. "And maybe some of her own skirts…"

"Thank you," the doctor replied before turning to Fubuki. "Please drop the sheets."

Fubuki blushed at the hard look from the doctor.

"Fubuki, I am a medical professional, as a result, I have _no_ sexual preference when I am on the job, and I am bound by my oaths not to reveal anything I find out as a result," he explained patiently.

"... No, you're not the problem…" Fubuki whispered quietly, averting her eyes and hesitating to drop her sheets. "I know I've always been rather… feminine but I'm still having trouble accepting all… this myself," she gestured at her chest.

Mannings sighed in understanding. "I do sympathise with your plight," he assured her as he began with scanning her. "It must be a lot to take suddenly waking up as a young woman after being a man for so long, just know that while you _can_ leave, you don't _have_ to."

"I… this is me now though, right?" Fubuki gulped. "I… can't change back, right?"

"Unfortunately, we do not know how to do it properly with your new DNA sequence," Mannings replied. "Not to mention the fact that you are now fully biotic as well with eezo nodes in your body."

"What?" Fubuki gasped. "I'm… biotic now?"

Mannings nodded in confirmation. "We haven't implanted an implant yet, that will be completely up to you if you wish to," he informed after the scan finished. "I am going to need you to strip for this next part unfortunately."

"I guess… all I can do now is… get used to it…" Fubuki whispered, clenching her eyes shut as she dropped her robe.

"I will be as quick as possible," Mannings assured as he started his work.

* * *

"I almost feel sorry for Dearka," Mir muttered, poking the catatonic man in the cheek and not getting a response at all.

"Well, the guy he had confusing feelings for is now a… _very_ well endowed girl, can't blame him," Tolle commented with a sigh.

"You'd better not be perving on her," Mir's eyes narrowed.

"Not even in the slightest," Tolle replied instantly. "Just… kinda hard _not_ to notice it."

"I… can't deny that," Mir let out a heavy sigh, slumping over onto the table. "Goddamned Yukikaze genes."

"I feel sorry for Fubuki," Nicole commented. "It's going to be a rough adjustment period for him… _her._ "

"Well… she's already halfway there, you've seen how she was acting just now," Yzak pointed out.

"Fubuki's a woman now…" Dearka murmured in a dull tone.

"Fubuki is a what now?" Stella questioned as she walked up to the group. "All I heard was that he was injured, nothing about him being changed!"

"Fubuki's a woman now…" Dearka repeated, still completely out of it.

Stella blinked several times in shock. "I… he… _a woman!?_ " she cried out in shock. "How the hell did _that_ happen!?"

"We had a bad run in with an alien artifact," Mir sighed. "While on inventory duty on one of the captured Batarian ships."

Stella was silent as she processed the information for a bit. "Fubuki inherited the Yukikaze genes, didn't he?" she questioned bluntly.

"She did, why are you asking?" Tolle nodded.

"Curious mostly," Stella admitted with a shrug before letting a perverted grin slip onto her face. "Plus now I get to glomp _her_ while burying my face~"

Dearka twitched slightly.

"Um, you're still trying to get into her… panties when she's female?" Sai blinked in surprise.

"I like Fubuki because of _who_ she is, not because of what she looks like," Stella replied, sounding as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Man or woman, I like Fubuki."

"Okay…" Tolle nodded slowly, a perverted grin stretching across his face…

Mir elbowed him hard enough to knock him off his chair.

"I hope Fubuki is handling the changes alright," Yzak sighed as he rubbed his forehead at his friends antics. "And that Hanami isn't being _too_ playful with her."

* * *

"This… this is a dream, right?" one of the Quarians asked in disbelief. "The Sol Council… will host us?"

"Yes," Han'Gerral assured as the five admirals stood before the crowd of captains from the Migrant fleet. "We effectively would become citizens of the Sol Council, with one of our number representing our interests on the Council."

"This does not mean we are giving up on Rannoch," Shala'Ran fixed the other captains with a stem glare. "We are using this chance to consolidate our fleets, make repairs, find a place to temporarily call home that won't break down every few days."

"The Sol Council will require us to make a diplomatic attempt with the Geth before we go to war with them," Zaal'Koris pitched in. "But should it fail they will support us in taking back Rannoch."

"Peace with the Geth!? Preposterous!"

"It… is a compulsory requirement they laid out if they were to take us in," Daro'Xen explained firmly. "We stand to lose nothing from this agreement. Should the peace talks succeed… we could effectively retake Rannoch with its infrastructure intact. Should they fail, you've seen the effectiveness of the human weapons against standard Citadel technology, which the Geth also use in the end."

"There really is nothing to lose with it," another Quarian pitched in in agreement.

"We wish to call this to a vote from the Conclave," Rael'Zorah called out, settling the conversation that was spreading throughout the crowd. "All captains who are willing to accept the Sol Council's deal, please submit your vote."

"Before we put this to the vote, the humans posed to us an interesting statement," Rael'Zorah added. "Long ago we were told the Geth rebelled against us, but what a lot of us fail to realize is that when they gained sentience we were the first to begin oppressing them. What would be your first reaction… if we ourselves were sentenced to death the moment we became adults?"

The crowd murmured amongst themselves at his question, unsettled discomfort visible in their body language. "What is it you're saying?" a captain shouted out in question.

"I do not say this to spite our past, our traditions," Rael'Zorah shook his head. "But perhaps we ought to rethink our generations-old vendetta against the Geth. It is not because the Geth wanted to rebel against us that they rebelled. Rather it is because we started executing them first. They rebelled to protect themselves. They did what any of us would have done if put into a similar situation."

The Quarians looked amongst themselves for a moment, some of them nodding in agreement.

"Maybe it is time for us to admit that our ancestors made a very big mistake dealing with the Geth," Rael'Zorah breathed. "And when we make a mistake, we make amends for it. Our ancestors paid for the mistake with their lives, but we need not choose to carry the weight of that mistake into the present. It is time for us, our current generation, to make amends with the Geth."

The was a quiet conference amongst the captains for several moments as they considered his words.

"I have said my piece," Rael'Zorah said quietly, though his words carried around the entire room. "Let us begin voting, leaving our prejudices against the Geth behind at the airlock and looking forward to a peaceful future where we no longer need to pass down our regrets, our grudges to our children."

One by one the captains activated their Omni-tools and began submitting their votes for the decision.

Shala'Raan waited several moments after the final vote was logged and check the results on her own Omni-tool. "By a unanimous vote by all of the Conclave, we of the Quarian Migrant Fleet will join the Sol Council," she announced loudly as the crowd began to cheer in approval.

"I… had expected several to disagree," Rael'Zorah looked out across the cheering Conclave in surprise.

"I believe your speech changed their minds," Kaal'Zoris commented in approval. "This… is a monumental day for us, I suppose we will have to begin recalling all of the Quarians on the Pilgrimage…"

"We should do it quietly," Han'Gerral suggested. "For the benefit of our human… allies. I doubt the Citadel would react very well to a race showing up with technology that completely negates their primary methods of defense. Allies…" he shook his head. "Not a word I expected to ever use in my lifetime."

The other Admirals nodded in agreement. "It definitely has a good ring to it," Shala'Raan agreed. "Let us hope that we can keep them as allies in the future then."

"Honest people like them are rare in the universe," Daro'Xen chuckled. "Honest yet shrewd too. If the Citadel Council does show up regardless of our efforts, I doubt they'll need our help handling the politicking."

Han'Gerral snorted in agreement. "Quite," he vocalized. "But, I look forward to the day we can see the gobsmacked expression on the Councillors faces when they realize what exactly they're dealing with."

"Though, the Pilgrimage is an important and beneficial tradition regardless," Rael'Zorah mused. "Maybe we should continue it, but let it be known that we would rather see our pilgrims working with our… allies rather than with the Citadel races."

"That would definitely be advisable," Daro'Xen commented in agreement. "Not that we will need to suggest it, many of our younger ones _want_ to do their Pilgrimage with them."

"Then once we inform the humans of our decision, let us also ask for permission for them to take our pilgrims on," Rael'Zorah chuckled. "I wish I was several decades younger so I could go on mine again with the humans!"

The Admirals chuckled with one another as they looked over the slowly dispersing crowd. "I feel like we're at the start of something monumental," Zaal'Koris informed. "I look forward to seeing what happens next."

* * *

"Incoming hail from the Migrant Fleet ma'am," the comms officer reported.

"Put them on the main screen," Murrue ordered, adjusting her uniform - damned if she wasn't going to receive the alien delegation in her best condition possible.

" _Greetings, Captain Ramius,_ " Shala'Raan greeted as her helmeted face appeared on the screen. " _The Conclave came to a decision, the Migrant Fleet wishes to join the Sol Council._ "

Murrue had to consciously rein in her excitement as she replied, "I'm glad you decided to accept. Shall I relay you to the Sol Council to properly announce your decision?" She noted that several of the bridge crew were holding in their joy as well and let the faintest of smiles show on her face for a moment.

" _Please do,_ " the Quarian Admiral requested. " _I look forward to a prosperous future with you._ "

"As do I," Murrue bowed slightly.

"Connecting to the Sol Council now!" the comms officer needed no prompting.

" _Captain Ramius,_ " James greeted as he answered the comm call. " _I hope you're not calling me to inform me that we are suddenly at war with the Migrant Fleet._ "

"Please don't joke like that, councilman," Murrue let out a hesitant laugh. "The Migrant Fleet has an announcement to make, I'm putting them through now."

" _Greetings once again, Admiral Henderson,_ " Shala'Raan greeted politely.

" _Admiral Shala'Raan,_ " James returned with a nod. " _How may we help you today?_ "

" _We of the Migrant Fleet wish to accept the Sol Council's offer of citizenship,_ " the Quarian informed, getting a knowing nod from James.

" _That is good to hear Admiral,_ " James replied with a smile. " _I will inform the rest of the Council and set up a treaty signing._ "

" _By the way, are you aware of the Quarian custom of sending our young ones out into the galaxy when they come of age - our Pilgrimage?_ " the Quarian Admiral asked. " _Word has already gotten around among the Migrant Fleet regarding the offer and many of the young ones are already crowding around the shuttles hoping for the chance to do it amongst your people_."

" _They will have to undergo our standard employment interview processes that the individual companies adhere to,_ " Henderson informed. " _But other than that, once the treaty is signed, your people will be welcomed._ "

" _I thank you for your hospitality, councilman,_ " Shala'Ran inclined her head in a nod. " _I believe you will find our young very competent in terms of technical skills_."

" _I look forward to it,_ " the admiral returned. " _I look forward to our next face to face meeting, the treaty signing should be ready by the time you arrive._ "

* * *

"Whoah."

"Hey… is she new? She looks somewhat familiar but I don't think I've seen her around before."

Fidget.

"She kind of looks like the cook, but Hanami doesn't wear her hair in twintails ever…"

Fidget fidget.

"She's got the body to match too, but I never heard anything about Hanami having a sister."

"Cousin maybe?"

Fubuki hurried out of the lift when it stopped, relieved not to have to hear the discussion about her. She quickly made her way through the corridors, headed for the mess hall where she was sure she'd find her friends. She wasn't disappointed and quickly slid into the empty seat beside Mir. "Hey…" the silverette said shyly.

"Hey, Fubuki," Mir greeted gently. "Nice outfit."

"Oh… uh, this is one of onee-chan's dresses…" Fubuki turned a little red, reaching up to cover her dress' plunging neckline with her hand. "It's a little… big for me around the chest…"

"Well, at least you're not having to run around naked," Tolle offered reassuringly. "How are you coping?"

"I'm still getting adjusted…" Fubuki sighed, slumping over onto the table and letting out a cute, surprised squeak as her considerable breasts rested on the table instead of slipping off and she smushed her head into them.

"Ah, forgot about them?" Mir questioned sympathetically as she winced a bit.

" _Trying_ to get adjusted," the silverette amended with a heavy blush. "My balance is completely off too, I'm having to consciously make sure I don't fall over when I walk…"

"I can see what," Sai commented, nodding in agreement. "The change in mass would definitely take time to get used to it."

"Well… I guess there's something else I can do now too…" Fubuki exhaled deeply, then took a deep breath before reaching out with a hand, opening her palm as a blue-black glow suffused it. "Whatever artifact turned me into a woman also made me a biotic somehow."

"Well, that's good at least?" Yzak offered helpfully. "We do offer bonuses for Biotics."

"Well, yeah…" Fubuki nodded slowly, scratching her chin. "I'm… just not sure if it was worth being turned into a woman just to get that bonus."

"Well, we'll support you as best as we can," Nicole told her with a reassuring smile. "So take it easy, alright?"

"I'll try," Fubuki smiled. "Just please don't treat me any differently now that I'm a woman," she added quickly. "And… please stop me if I try to go into the guys' bathroom now."

The others chuckled weakly. "We can do that," Yzak assured. "And pretty sure you don't have to worry about Stella treating you differently…"

"Um?" Fubuki blinked, then let out a low, erotic moan as a pair of hands cupped her breasts and began squeezing. "Nnnngh… this feeling is…" she whimpered.

"Hey Fubuki~" Stella greeted cheekily. "Glad to see you're doing alright!"

"Aaaah…" Fubuki moaned, trying to get Stella's hands to stop. "No… Stella-san…"

"Oh my," Tolle stared.

Stella giggled in response. "I'm just doing my duty and helping my friend get used to her new body!" she announced cheerfully.

"No… I'm feeling… weird…" Fubuki squirmed, trying to push Stella off but failing. Abruptly she began radiating a biotic glow and Stella found herself suddenly in zero-G and floating away.

"Kya!" Stella shouted as she tried to right herself.

"I… uh… oops?" Fubuki blinked.

"Hey, this is actually kinda fun!" Stella shouted removing any semblance of guilt the silverette felt.

" … eat wall," Fubuki glared, sending Stella flying into a wall. Not too hard, but enough to cause some slight pain. "Stella, now really isn't the time to do this…"

Stella chuckled weakly as she recovered herself. "But, you're not moping anymore," she pointed out with a grin. "So, mission success!"

"You didn't have to grope me like that…" Fubuki shrank backwards, an arm around her abused breasts protectively. "I'm… still not used to this…" she actually began tearing up slightly.

Stella bit her lip slightly before moving to hug Fubuki gently. "Sorry, I just don't like seeing you mope like that," the blond informed. "You're much more suited to being happy."

"I… I'm sorry… I'm just overwhelmed right now…" Fubuki sobbed, hugging Stella back.

 _Concern. Guilt. Acceptance. Love. Hope._

Fubuki jerked backwards as if stung and clutched at her head. "Owww…"

"Fubuki? What's wrong?" Stella asked in concern.

"Headache…" the silverette groaned. What had that been? It had felt like her empathy sense, but so much more stronger than usual… and it had completely overwhelmed her mind for a moment…

"Do you need to see the doctor?" Stella asked worriedly. "Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"

"I… no, I'll be fine…" Fubuki gasped as the pounding began to subside. "I'm okay… I'm okay…"

"Okay…" Stella accepted reluctantly. "Are you hungry, do you need anything?"

"Onee-chan is preparing some food for me already," Fubuki revealed, glancing over at the kitchen where she could hear her sister hard at work. "I'm… alright, not too hungry yet. Not much of an appetite right now anyway."

*GROOOOOWL*

Fubuki tried to make herself as small as possible in her seat as everyone in the vicinity stared at her belly, which had just betrayed her.

Stella smiled at her in amusement. "It's alright to be hungry you know," she informed, patting Fubuki's hand. "Your body just went through a large change after all."

 _Concern. Love. Understanding. Amusement._

"Ow!" Fubuki hissed as her hands went to her head again.

Stella frowned. "Something isn't right here," she announced as she looked over Fubuki. "I'm going to call the doctor."

"I'll be fine…" Fubuki whispered, reaching out to stop Stella. Her hand touched her arm…

 _CONCERN. CONCERN._

Fubuki blacked out from the pain assaulting her head and crumpled onto the table with a loud scream.

There was a loud crashing sound from the kitchen.

"FUBUKI!" Stella shouted in a panic. "WE NEED A MEDIC!"

"The fuck just happened!?" Tolle swore as he bolted for the intercom.

"All I can tell is that she has a really, really bad headache!" Mir shouted, equally as panicked as she watched the unconscious Fubuki still scrabbling at her cranium.

"Could it be a side effect of the artifact?" Nicole questioned as he looked at the others.

"Fubuki-chan!?" Hanami burst out of the kitchen still wearing her apron. "What just happened!?"

"What if this is because of Fubuki's empathy?" Yzak suggested.

"No, I got curious and asked him… she was still a he at the time, about it once and she told me that she never got so much as a headache from it," Mir shook her head. "She thought it might get to that level if she pushed her ability too much but she never tried."

"But that was _before_ the artifact changed her," Yzak countered. "We don't know much about the Protheans, it might've amplified her empathy to a point where it _could_ overload her with too much information."

"That's… also possible, but she also did say it was an ability she could never turn off," Mir frowned. "It would have been impossible for her _not_ to pass out from a headache anywhere near us if it had been amplified like that…"

"But… she was only in pain after Stella touched her," Yzak continued, looking at the blonde. "It may be touch activated…"

"Ugh… so many questions…" Mir groaned, rubbing her temples. "Hospital first! Then we see if the doctor can think of anything!"

"Right," Yzak agreed as a squad of medics rushed in with a stretcher.

"Fubuki…" Hanami murmured, staring helplessly at her younger sibling.

"Dammit," Stella muttered in frustration as she teared up. "I'm sorry… Fubuki…"

"I don't think any of us could have predicted that would happen," Sai shook his head. "You're not at fault, Stella."

Stella didn't respond as she got up and followed after the medics as they carried Fubuki to the hospital.

* * *

Fubuki groaned as she came to with the remnants of a splitting headache still plaguing her head. She tried to rub her head to alleviate the pain only to blink and start hyperventilating when she realized her hands were strapped to her bed and unable to move.

"Please calm down, Miss Yukikaze," Mannings requested as he appeared in her field of view. "You were strapped down for your own safety."

"Why… what's wrong with me…?" Fubuki croaked.

"Well, when the artifact was repairing your body with your sister DNA, it also used an _alien_ DNA strand as well," the doctor explained patiently as he began working on releasing the restraints. "From what we can tell, the Protheans were an empathetic race much like yourself, which caused the artifact to react to you, _not_ your Coordinator genes like we had thought, and as a result it set your empathetic ability on overdrive whenever you came into contact with someone."

Fubuki digested the information for a while, dread filling her as the full ramifications hit her. "Does that mean I'm never going to be able to touch another person again?" she whispered, staring at her hands forlornly.

"You can," Mannings assured with a smile. "We made a small adjustment to your biotic implant that will help filter the amount of information that flows into your conscious mind, which was what caused your headaches and fainting spell, now, please touch my hand and we can see just how effective it was."

"A-Are you sure?" Fubuki said hesitantly, holding out her hand.

"Only one way to be completely sure," he informed as he held out his hand for her to take.

 _concern, care, slight irritation, love for romantic partner_

Fubuki's eye twitched. "Doctor, I can assure you I'm not coming back in here again today, so you can go back to your wife already," she sighed.

Manning's lip twitched in response. "You are my patient, and my responsibility, so no, I cannot until I am sure you are fit for duty," he informed.

 _sincerity, amusement, slight embarrassment_

"Well… I'm not getting a terrible headache anymore… so that's definitely an improvement…" Fubuki removed her hand from Manning's and gingerly tapped her temple. "Thanks, doctor."

Manning nodded. "If you do have any further trouble, please let me know," he told her. "It could be a simple matter of fine tuning."

"It seems just about right for now," Fubuki smiled. "I'll let you know if I need to adjust it more."

 ***GROOOOOOOOOOWL***

"Oh my god…" Fubuki covered her face in shame and doubled over as her stomach betrayed her yet again.

"You will need to eat more," Mannings replied. "Biotics consume a lot of calories so be sure to eat plenty and do _not_ do a diet without consulting myself or a dietician."

"I already found that out the hard way…" Fubuki groaned, pulling herself to her feet and dragging herself to the door clutching her stomach. "I never got to eat anything just now…"

"Mm, do you want something brought up here?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I… ugh… yes…" Fubuki whispered.

"Very well, I'll put the order in, although, Miss Hisanaga was feeling rather distraught about putting you in here," he explained. "Do you want me to allow your friends in?"

"They're outside?" Fubuki blinked, feeling more than a little touched.

"And pacing with worry," he confirmed. "Shall I allow them in?"

"Go ahead," Fubuki said after a moment of thought.

Mannings nodded before he stepped out of the room.

"Fubuki, thank god you're awake!" Mira called out in relief as her friends filed into the room.

"Sorry for making you guys worry about me," Fubuki laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Are you alright?" Stella questioned in worry as she visibly held herself back from hugging the silverette. "I am… I am just _so_ sorry for this!"

"No, none of us had any idea this had actually happened to me…" Fubuki smiled, reaching out to lay a hand on Stella's shoulder reassuringly.

 _concern, guilt, fear, love_

Fubuki's eyebrow twitched at that last one.

"So… you're allowed to touch then?" Stella asked hopefully.

"The doctor added something to my biotic implant to filter my new touch empathy," Fubuki explained. "That way I won't get overloaded again like I did just now."

"That's good to know," Yzak said with a relieved sigh. "Don't need my friend dropping because of a handshake."

"Yeah," Sai agreed. "Hanami's been worried sick again too… I heard a lot of clanging coming from the kitchen. Apparently her assistant is only letting her use the metal plates now and considering banning her from the kitchen."

"It certainly gave us all a heart attack when you fainted like that," Nicole pitched in. "Stella wore a groove into the hall from her pacing."

Stella flushed in embarrassment at Nicole's teasing.

Fubuki let out a sheepish laugh. "I'm alright now, with the empathy filter. Just…" she touched Tolle's hand.

 _concern, lust, surprise, realization, fear_

"I can sense you perving on me even without my empathy," Fubuki muttered, a dark aura seeping out from her and forming into a floating mask the original Heliopolis group was intimately familiar with…

 _TERROR_

"H-holy crap!" Stella cursed as she scrambled back in terror.

"Mother of christ!"

"SILVER DEMON!"

"Hmmm? What are you talking about?" Fubuki cocked her head to one side with a mysterious smile.

"Y-you can do _that?_ " Stella whimpered fearfully.

"Do what?" Fubuki had a perfectly innocent confused look on her face.

"The _mask_ ," Tolle pitched in as he pushed his back against the wall on the opposite side of Fubuki.

"What mask?" Fubuki blinked, looking behind her. The mask vanished for a moment, and then it was back the moment she looked away. "What mask?" she repeated.

"Goddammit if I didn't love you I'd hit you for doing that!" Stella whined loudly in response.

"Really, what mask?" Fubuki seemed genuinely confused, though the corners of her mouth were twitching upwards.

"You know _exactly_ what you're doing Fubuki!" Sai bellowed in a mix of fear and anger. "You've huddled with us when Hanami did it!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Fubuki smiled mysteriously as her own glowing blue-black version of her sister's patented Noh mask disappeared.

"Oh thank god!" Stella breathed out in relief as she slumped down, followed by the others.

"That's a mean thing to do, Fubuki," Nicole stated accusingly as he tried to pull the fetal position Yzak to his feet. "It'll take all day to get him back to normal now."

"Great, we have two people who know how to manifest that mask of doom now…" Mir attempted to calm down her raging heart.

Fubuki would be lying if she said she didn't understand why Hanami liked to act mysterious while using it. It was so much fun! Strange though, that she'd never been able to use it as a guy.

"If you do that again, I won't give you the food that was brought up," Mannings announced calmly. "Please remember that you are in a _hospital_."

 ***GROOOOOOOOOOWL***

"I'm sorry, doc," Fubuki hurriedly apologized, clutching her stomach.

Mannings sighed as he pushed in a trolley of food. "You and your sister are so reckless with those," he informed, looking a little annoyed with the fact. "Now, eat everything on this trolley, you need to replace the lost calories from both the transformation and your use of biotics, no arguments."

"Yes, sir!" Fubuki saluted out of habit, blushed and quickly began digging in as fast as she could chew.

Mannings nodded in approval. "Very well, as soon as you are finished eating you are free to leave," he explained. "Try not to collapse as soon as you leave the hospital next time please."

Fubuki nodded halfway through a whole chicken.

Stella couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth. "You look adorable eating like that, Fubuki!" she announced, regaining her usual cheer.

Fubuki tried to retort and chew at the same time. It turned into a choke.

Mir sighed as she moved over and gave the silverette a sharp smack on her back to dislodge the food. "Don't talk and eat at the same time Fubuki, what would your sister say to such manners?" she scolded lightly.

"I'm so hungry though…" Fubuki whined pitifully after she had finished coughing.

"Then don't respond to her gabs and focus on eating," Mir retorted sternly, her eyebrow raising as she looked down at Fubuki.

"By the way… is… Dearka-kun still… out of it?" Fubuki asked, looking around and seeing no sign of the blond.

"Yeah, your change really threw him for a loop as certain… _feelings_ made themselves known again," Nicole informed with a sigh. "He should drop by when he sorts them out completely."

"I suppose the way I usually act like a girl hasn't helped much over the past few years either…?" Fubuki looked a little embarrassed. "I know I've never been especially masculine…"

"I think it's the fact that he knows that he cares about you this entire time, whether you were feminine or not that confused him the most," Nicole explained with a small smile. "He just didn't know what to do with those feelings."

"And suddenly I've turned into a woman and become a valid target for his affections…" Fubuki sighed, polishing off a bowl of salad.

"Pretty much," Nicole confirmed. "Like I said, once he works himself out, he'll be fine."

"I'll need time to sort myself out too… after this," Fubuki said quietly, wiping her mouth with some tissue. "I mean… I understand turning into a girl doesn't make me any less me… but everything's different too."

"Of course," Mir nodded in agreement, giving her a patient smile. "Take as much time as you need, we'll be right here for you when you're ready."

"And I'm still dreading my first time in the shower, because I'm going to feel like a pervert…" Fubuki hung her head in shame. "The toilet too… um… how do women do… it?"

"Do you need help with it?" Stella offered honestly. "Just tell me what you need and it's yours."

"... Please don't grope me," Fubuki pleaded, wrapping her arms around her chest for all the good they did with her considerable bulk. "It makes me feel… really uncomfortable…"

Stella nodded as she stepped closer. "Of course," she agreed instantly. "Sorry about before…"

"I wonder how Hanami-nee ever dealt with all the stares when she was younger…" Fubuki sighed, looking down at her chest.

"Maybe she could give you some advice on dealing with it," Nicole suggested in understanding.

"I suppose so," Fubuki nodded. "So… um… did I miss anything while I was unconscious?"

"Well… there were the alien slaves that we rescued," Mir informed as she took a seat for the explanation.

* * *

Siegel sighed as he rolled his shoulders a bit, making sure his suit was fitting properly, distinctly aware of the cameras following his every move. "How are the news crews doing?" he asked Uzumi quietly as the Earth Sphere Alliance's leader stood next to him patiently. "They haven't started anything… untoward have they?"

"Hardly," Uzumi assured with a small smirk and a chuckle. "They're merely speaking about which female ambassador's dress is in season and the such like right now."

Siegel barely restrained his snort. "You'd think that we weren't onto something historic with accepting a new alien race into the Sol Council, listening to them," he commented dryly.

"Their idea of historic might possibly be discovering the sort of fashion the Quarians are into," Uzumi joked back quietly. "Though I must profess my inexperience in the subject. Cagalli was never interested in such things."

Siegel chuckled quietly. "Lacus only was to keep up appearances to the press," he agreed, glancing over to where his daughter was standing proudly next to Kira and Ryu, her pregnancy clear - not that anyone would _dare_ mention it in fear of reprisal from the Mercenary Guild - as the three of them were clad in dark dress uniforms. "She's quite glad she doesn't have to worry about it as much anymore."

"I wish my daughter had as good a head on her shoulders as yours do," the Mars representative, Gordon Charman, huffed and adjusted his suit, dusting off an imaginary speck of dust for the fiftieth time. "Maybe tossing her out to fend for herself might do her some good…"

The Earth President Michelle King huffed as she kept her gaze solidly ahead and ignoring the cameras, clearly confident in her own suit. "I'm glad I don't have to worry about that myself," she admitted honestly. "I have my hands full enough with my job, let alone if I added kids on top of that."

"Ah, but my daughter is who inspires me to keep on fighting," Uzumi chuckled. "Without her I wouldn't be half the leader I am today."

"And now she's the pilot of an advanced mobile suit for a mercenary guild," Siegel commented with a chuckle as he looked over again to the Fenrir delegation, Cagalli standing next to her sister with Athrun on her other side, the two subtly holding each other's hands. "I wonder how our new friends will react when they hear the rumours on their saviors?"

"For all we know their culture might be accepting of it," Uzumi smiled, though it was a little forced this time. "We won't know for sure until we talk to them more. Shall we invite them for a tour of the Earth afterwards?"

"I agree, Lord Attha," a woman with dark long hair in a rather avant-garde suit with a long, flowing cloak nodded. "I'll have the shuttles prepared and press conferences scheduled."

"Thank you, Mina," Uzumi replied to the ORB representative who nodded in response. "Ah, I believe that that is their shuttle now," he announced as the Quarian shuttle approached.

Its engines sputtered slightly on approach, eliciting gasps from the crowd that had gathered to watch. It held up though, thrusters on its underside firing to bring it to a slightly bumpy landing on the pad they had designated for it. The red carpet rolled out once the thrusters had cut out and the boarding ramp had come down.

The Sol Council representatives had already agreed not to comment on the state of disrepair the Quarian shuttles seemed to always be in since their first meeting.

The five Admirals of the Migrant Fleet stepped out of the shuttle, looking somewhat surprised at the crowd that had gathered, but took it in stride as they walked down the carpet to the gathered representatives. "I bid you welcome, Admirals of the Quarian Migrant Fleet," Uzumi announced as he stepped forward with a smile. "I am pleased that we are able to meet once again."

"As are we, especially on such a historic occasion," Shala'Ran declared, reaching out for a handshake. "I understand this is a human gesture of understanding?" she inquired.

Uzumi smiled in response as he clasped her hand in return, the cameras flashing like mad at the gesture. "Understanding, greetings and partnership," he clarified good naturedly. "Come, let us go inside where things are more… organized."

"Very well," Rael'Zorah nodded as the Quarian delegation made to enter the building. "Have things been well since our last meeting?"

"Quite well, thank you," Uzumi replied pleasantly as he began to lead the way into the building. "We have been preparing one of our new PLANTs for your arrival, of course we will need the data for your preferred climate, but that is a simple matter. Our geneticists have also been preparing their labs, they are quite eager to work with your scientists."

"Our own doctors are similarly excited about the prospects of curing our ailing immune systems," Daro'Xen agreed with a smile - not that anyone could see it through his helmet. "You have no idea how much it means to us."

"But I _can_ understand it," he informed as they entered the building, decorated simply with examples of human art, the other members of the Sol Council already in the hall. "I do apologize for the formality, but, appearances must be kept to the public after all."

"I understand the reasoning, we do have press over at the Citadel too," Shala'Ran nodded.

Uzumi nodded as he gestured to the table. "It is a very simple process when said and done," he informed as they took their seats, a document before them as carefully selected TV crews recorded the whole thing. "This document outlines all of the responsibilities and benefits to becoming a citizen of the Sol Council while also, on behalf of your government, accepting said responsibilities to govern your people fairly and support your fellow Council members when needed."

Of course, a draft had been sent to the Quarians earlier for them to scrutinise.

Still, following procedure, the Admiralty Board closely checked all of the clauses to ensure they were the same as the copy they had been sent. When everything checked out, they nodded as one.

"We're actually used to everything being computerised, even treaties," Rael'Zorah chuckled as he gestured for Shala'Ran to pick up the pen lying before them. "Forgive us if our penmanship is out of practice."

Uzumi nodded with a smile. "Quite alright, we are rather… antiquated with our traditions, I admit," he chuckled slightly. "But, this was the document that we all signed when the Sol Council and the Earth Sphere Alliance was formed."

 _Elect Head of the Earth Sphere Alliance, C.E 72, Uzumi Nara Attha_

"And one I signed myself afterwards when Mars joined in," Gordon chuckled, staring at the document fondly. There was still plenty of room on it.

 _Representative of Mars, C.E 73, Gordon Charman_

"Ah, a symbolic meaning to your people then," Shala'Ran nodded in understanding, picking up the pen and adding her own signature to it.

 _Quarian Migrant Fleet Admiral, C.E 89 / 2176 CE, Shala'Ran vas Tonbay_

Of course, it was signed in the native Quarian language so none of the humans could read it anyway, but it was the gesture that mattered.

"C… E?" Shala'Ran read the letters with the help of her translator in curiosity, tracing the curious abbreviation. "I understand this is a calendar…"

"Cosmic Era," Uzumi answered. "It started a few years before the Reconstruction Wars ended on our homeworld and when we began reaching for space."

"I can see we're going to need some tutors on human history," Han'Gerral chuckled.

"Well, now this document is also symbolic to the Quarian people as well," Shala'Ran smiled as she put down the pen. "A new age of cooperation dawns!"

"Agreed, I look forward to a bright future for us both," Uzumi declared proudly as cameras flashed, recording the monumental moment. "We of the Sol Council are proud to call the Quarian Migrant Fleet our fellow citizens and allies."

The applause from the crowd outside the building watching the broadcast was monumental and could be heard from all the way inside.

"I thank you again for giving us this opportunity, Elect Head," Shala'Ran once again extended her hand to shake. "The Quarian people are indebted to you."

Uzumi took her hand firmly once again. "I am sure you will go above and beyond the opportunity presented to you, Admiral," he assured with a chuckle. "And there is no debt to be paid, we are only doing what we can to help our neighbours."

"Neighbours, huh," Rael'Zorah mulled the word over. "If only the Citadel Council thought the same way you did."

"Then that is their loss," Uzumi replied pleasantly. "One that I have no doubt they will end up regretting immensely."

* * *

"Hello?" a female Quarian examined an intercom she had no idea how to operate outside an office. Of course, she could simply hack it but she doubted that it would win her any points with her potential employers.

She wasn't going to waste the opportunity after all! It hadn't been easy securing a spot in the first batch of pilgrims going to the humans after all. She also wondered if anyone else had the same idea she had, to shoot for a spot in this company. Their site on the human version of the extranet had suggested that their standards were very, very high so it could have put off a lot of the Quarians no matter the company's reputation.

Well, she wouldn't complain if she found herself working with another Quarian later on. It was always nice to see another one around to chat with, and they were now bound to be more plentiful around Earth too.

" _Greetings,_ " a synthetic male voice replied. " _Are you one of the new applicants from the Migrant Fleet?_ "

The Quarian jumped a foot into the air in surprise. "Y-Yes, I am!" she quickly said when her heart had recovered.

" _May I get your name please?_ " the voice requested after a moment.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," the Quarian answered, looking around her. "Who am I talking to?"

" _I am the Artificial Intelligence Sentry, Miss Zorah,_ " the voice replied after a few moments, the door opening as he spoke. " _The interviewers are awaiting you down the hall, third door on your right._ "

The Quarian flinched slightly when she realized she was speaking to an AI - an ingrained response that she still had yet to shake since her father's rousing speech was broadcast throughout the Migrant Fleet. She gathered herself quickly though. "Please, just call me Tali," she said somewhat sheepishly. "Calling me by just my family name in the human way sounds _really_ odd in Quarian."

" _Very well, logging it for future reference, Miss Tali,_ " the AI replied politely. " _Please proceed to your interview room._ "

"By the way… were you ever a VI or anything like that? Or were you created as an AI from the very beginning?" Tali couldn't help bursting out in curiosity once her initial shock was over as she entered the building.

" _I was originally a VI created by the Protheans, I achieved full sentience when an attempt was made to recover my corrupted data, beyond that, information about me is classified to Fenrir Personnel and selected leaders,_ " Sentry replied.

"I… see… even the Geth started out almost the same way, but you seem alright," Tali blinked, following the indicated route as she tried to ignore the stares of the other humans in the area.

" _Fenrir is my home,_ " the AI replied simply. " _And it's members are my comrades, I would give my life for theirs, just as they would for mine._ "

"Comrades, huh…" Tali thought out loud. "Maybe father was right about the way our ancestors treated the Geth."

" _I cannot comment on this subject due to a lack of information,_ " Sentry admitted. " _This is your destination, good luck with your interview, Miss Tali, it was a pleasure to meet you._ "

"Thank you… Sentry," Tali nodded as the voice fell into silence and she arrived at a door labelled 'Conference Room'. She took a moment to stabilize herself with a deep breath before pushing the door open.

Inside an older brown haired man with green eyes sat, clad in the Fenrir short sleeve uniform, looking up from a tablet as she entered. "Greetings, Miss Tali, please, take a seat," he greeted, gesturing to the seat across from himself. "My name is Ryu Hisanaga, I am to be your interviewer for today."

"It's nice to meet you, Ryu Hisanaga," Tali ran through her rehearsed human greetings as she sat down - there was a tidbit of information nagging her in her mind but she couldn't quite focus on it with her nervousness. "I'm Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, but please just call me Tali for short."

"Sentry already informed me of your preference, Miss Tali," Ryu replied politely as he set the tablet down. "Tell me, why are you looking to join Fenrir?"

"It's because I want to learn more about human technology, and from what I hear Fenrir is at the cutting edge of it among the human companies," Tali spoke. "I'm well aware that what I may work with should I be hired may be classified, and I'm willing to promise not to reveal any of it to the Migrant Fleet unless Fenrir says I can."

Ryu nodded contemplatively in response. "Do you have any formal combat training, we of Fenrir are quite often deployed into combat zones, ranging from life threatening to downright suicidal," he questioned bluntly.

"Risking our lives is something we Quarians are used to doing," Tali said blithely. "Living on a ship with life support that could cut out at any moment is a risk. Going on a Pilgrimage is a hefty risk in itself given Quarians aren't treated very well by the rest of the galaxy. All of us are taught how to use guns so I can handle myself in combat if you need me to."

"I see," Ryu nodded, making a note on the tablet.

"And… I'm also hoping to make some friends outside of my own species," Tali added forlornly. "I'd like to expand my horizons, see more of the world - I'm not content with sitting on a ship doing nothing but maintenance work for decades. It wouldn't be worth living otherwise."

Ryu hummed in response. "The preliminary testing you submitted shows a strong aptitude for ship maintenance and battlefield engineering," he commented as he flicked his screen, no doubt looking through said test. "You do realize that _if_ you are accepted into Fenrir, it isn't an easy life, and you will not instantly gain access to our technology, much of which _is not_ to be shared with anyone outside of Fenrir unless specifically stated. The consequences of doing so are… unpleasant."

"I completely understand, R… Mr. Hisanaga," Tali leaned forward in her seat, having to stop herself from using the normal Quarian address. "I am no stranger to hardship, and I do not expect to obtain a higher position so soon. I just ask, if you do hire me, put me somewhere where I can learn."

"Very well then, let us get started," Ryu announced, making Tali's stomach sink as she realized the interview hadn't even begun yet.

* * *

"Hmm, that should do it for now," Ryu stated in a satisfied tone after _two hours_ of questioning. "We will contact you within the week with the results, it was a pleasure speaking with you, Miss Tali."

"It was nice talking to you too, Mr. Hisanaga," Tali nodded, relaxing slightly now that the interview was winding down. "I hope that I can work with you in the future."

"We shall find that out soon enough," Ryu replied calmly, his face and voice giving nothing away. "I shall contact you soon, Miss Tali, do you need a guide out?"

Tali paused for a moment, glancing back at the direction of the door. "Yes… yes I think so," she nodded again.

Ryu nodded as he got up from his chair and stepped out with her, guiding her down the hall with a practiced ease until they reached the entrance. "Be safe on your return home, Miss Tali," Ryu said as he opened the door for her.

"Thank you, Mr. Hisanaga…" the worn out Quarian struggled to hide her fatigue as she left the room.

Tali stopped once she had left the building and let out a heavy sigh. She had known it would be a grueling interview, but experiencing it in person was a completely different matter from reading about it…

And it was then that the tidbit of information that had been nagging at her finally forced its way back into her head as she paled and brought up her omnitool to check.

She made sure to get far, far away from the building before letting out her panic.

"THE BOSS OF FENRIR WAS INTERVIEWING ME!?" she shrieked out loud. "I AM SUCH A BOSH'TET!"

Ryu chuckled from where he was listening at the door, the Quarian girl completely unaware of his presence. "Always funny to see their reaction," he commented in amusement as he walked further into the building. "It never gets old, hopefully she can pass the physical tests as well, she seems like she has potential."

* * *

 **END CHAPTER**


	4. Chapter 3: Training

**Disclaimer: None of us own Gundam SEED or Mass Effect**

 **Chapter Three: Training**

 **Six Months after the Quarians joined the Sol Council**

* * *

"KEEP IT MOVING RECRUITS!" Yzak backed out loudly over his shoulder, as he oversaw the training of the newest recruits for Fenrir, including the first handful of Quarians to make it into the mercenary organization leading them on a 20km run in full gear. "You're starting to lag behind! You do want dinner don't you?"

"Yzak-kun… you could go a little easier on them," Fubuki commented as she caught up on her own run, sweating lightly. "I know we're Fenrir and all, but they're still new…"

"Hey, we have to make sure they're ready for active duty," Yzak countered as he continued to run. "Besides, we all did this during our own training."

"I'm glad I'm still somewhat in shape," Fubuki sighed, an arm around her chest as she ran. "But maybe some positive reinforcement would help?"

"Hey, if you want to play the nice one, go ahead, just don't undermine the rules I set out, alight?" Yzak offered. "It's a delicate balance between coddling them and strengthening them."

"Wait, I think they're speeding up a bit, the guys…" Fubuki looked back over her shoulder. "I wonder why… oh."

"Because you're running," Yzak commented dully. "Your entire body is catching their attention."

Fubuki blushed brightly, tightening her arm around her chest. "I knew I sensed lust…" she muttered. "I'm starting to reconsider playing good cop."

Yzak snorted. "Well, you encouraged the guys to keep running at least," he said dryly. "Don't be afraid to remind them of their place though."

"Actually…" Fubuki smirked as a proverbial lightbulb lit up in her mind. "Yzak, please don't freak out in half a minute," she advised as she stopped running, headed off to the side of the track and began tying her shoelaces.

Yzak blinked for a moment before he realized what she was going to do and locked his face solidly forward as he kept running. "No stopping recruits! You don't get that luxury yet!" he barked out back to the trainees.

"My legs… are dying…" one of the men groaned out, slowing down to attempt to get a peek as he passed Fubuki, still tying her shoelaces.

"Dear god, I thought I signed on to be a tech, not a soldier!" a Quarian complained as he began to slow down as well. "I ain't looking to be a marine!"

"This is ridiculous!" a female groused as she ran. "Why are they making us run 20k on our first week?"

"Because they're fucking Fenrir, that's why!" another guy groaned out. "Can't believe I didn't see this coming…"

"Hey…" Fubuki finally stood back up as she resumed running and fell into line at the back of the group.

"H-huh, yes ma'am?" a male recruit questioned, directing a not-so-subtle look at her bustline.

"You know… you guys aren't very good at hiding the fact that you're trying to get an eyeful of me," she smiled… a very ominous one to those who knew the Yukikaze siblings.

"Well, it's just…" one of the recruits stammered. "You're so pretty…"

"I'm flattered you think that way…" Fubuki abruptly began oozing the trademarked Yukikaze aura of doom, not forming her Noh mask yet. "But it's not very nice to stare like that…"

"W-wait… what is that behind her?" one of the female recruits questioned as she felt a shiver of dread run down her spine.

"Recruits…" Fubuki just kept smiling even as a dark shadow fell over her forehead with no clear origin and the aura of doom coalesced into two smoky Noh masks, eyes glowing a biotic blue-black as they glared at the batch of recruits. "Peeping is forbidden."

"Oh shit!" a Quarian shouted as she began sprinting after Yzak. "Get me outta here!"

"What the hell is that thing?" another one cried out in a panic.

"FUCK YOU GUYS!" another of the women raced away from the apparition of doom, flipping the men a very rude gesture. "YOU JUST HAD TO PISS HER OFF!"

"Oh god, save me Captain Joule!" one of the recruits pleaded desperately as he ran after the silver haired leader of Heliopolis Squad.

"The Hannya has come for our souls!"

* * *

"Ufufufu," Hanami giggled, covering her mouth with a hand in a ladylike manner as she watched the sight from a nearby observation deck. "Fubuki-chan is learning fast…"

"Uncle or Aunty Fubuki is scary too…" Shirayuri cowered behind Hanami huddling together with her twin in terror.

"She really learned how to use that effectively, didn't she?" Jinn deadpanned as he watched Fubuki terrorize the new recruits into running faster as Yzak began to pick up the pace of the run, threatening to remove their blankets and sheets if they didn't keep pace. "Those two are a frightful combo."

"Jinn-koi, you're one to talk considering you also did that to the last batch of recruits who tried perving on me while we were running…" Hanami chuckled, stroking the heads of the terrified twins hiding behind her.

Jinn smirked back at her. "They should have known better than to perv on my wife right in front of me," he replied blandly. "Any mental, physical or financial trauma that happened as a result was their own fault."

"Well, at least they're settling in now," Hanami watched the Quarians fleeing from the apparition of doom. "What's the latest news on the Migrant Fleet?"

"It seems they're settling fine in the PLANT that was modified for them," Jinn commented, checking his tablet for a second. "Their scientists are working with our geneticists on fixing their immune systems and they've already begun to integrate their Heavy and Patrol fleet members into the military proper."

"It's amazing how they managed to survive for so long under conditions like that…" Hanami muttered, pulling up her tablet, pausing and then lifting her right hand as a holographic omnitool formed around it. "You know, these omnitools aren't called omnitools for no reason…" she remarked, pulling up several screens as she typed on it.

"I know, I still like using tablets though," Jinn admitted, showing off his own omni-tool. "Kinda like how you still like using those cast iron pans instead of the new ceramic ones that are coming out."

"Ufufufu~ I find them less prone to break when I throw them," Hanami smiled. "Or when people show up unannounced in my kitchen. But anyway, I think we're almost done with an OS for these things that humans can use."

"They are doing pretty good work for them, and the 'tech attacks' look pretty interesting too, Ryu-nii is going to have a field day with them," Jinn commented in amusement.

"We're just beta testing them and I can safely say they make almost everything else obsolete," Hanami demonstrated by flash-forging a virtual-looking frying pan, then dismantling it and forming a katana. "Can't make beam sabers though."

"Not yet anyways," Jinn countered with a smirk. "I'm already working on doing it, will take me a while though before I can get it working through."

"Jinn-koi, you'd probably need a really big battery to sustain the beam though…" Hanami pointed out.

"Dad is going to be a Jedi?" Tsubaki was looking at Jinn with stars in her eyes.

"Pretty much," Jinn smirked at his daughter. "Just need to work on my Force powers after I get my lightsaber ready."

"Teach us, dad!" Shirayuri began tugging at Jinn's shirt eagerly.

"Yeah, we want to be Jedi too!" Tsubaki joined in on his other side.

"I will," he promised as he patted their heads. "But I need to get the beam saber to work properly before I can even think of teaching anyone else how to use it."

"Personal-sized beam sabers would be great…" Hanami mimed swinging a beam saber around. "Beam rifles too… but those are too complex for an omnitool."

"Ryu has a team working on making real things for infantry," Jinn commented. "Who says we need to use omnitools for everything?"

Hanami thought for several moments, before starting to type rapidly on her omnitool… then aiming her hand into air, sighting down her arm. "Let's see… fire!" she declared as a green beam flashed out of the palm of her hand and fizzled out mere metres away as the omnitool fizzled out. "Yeah… power draw's too high."

"Which is why we're making them actual rifles," Jinn informed. "They'll work like normal rifles, but the clip is battery powered instead of filled with bullets."

"Aaaah… now I'll have to go get this recharged before I can continue working on it…" Hanami sighed as she wrung her wrist. "Well, we need all the firepower we can get for when the Reapers come after all…"

"Agreed," Jinn grimaced slightly. "Anyways, I'm going to have to get back soon, Ryu-nii wants me to work on getting some bugs into the Citadel Extranet, he wants to try and get as much info as possible before coming into actual contact."

"That's quite sneaky," Hanami chuckled, getting up as well. "I'll come join you once I'm done recharging this."

"Right, see you there then," Jinn nodded as he gave his daughters each a kiss on the head before heading off to the base's computer lab.

"See you later, dad!" the twins chorused.

* * *

These people were crazy!

Tali breathed deeply as she leaned against a wall to recover her stamina from almost half an hour of being chased by a floating… giant… mask of doom that silver-haired woman had unleashed on them… not to mention the grueling 20km run that had turned into a 30km one without them realizing it. Hell, she could barely even stand, though there were some other recruits that had simply collapsed where they stood and were eating dirt, or just plain unconscious. Not a single person was left standing properly…

…except for their drill sergeant.

"Well, that was a refreshing run!" Captain Joule called out, far too cheerfully for their tastes. "So, who's ready to start the real workout now?"

She revised her opinion of Fenrir. Fucking crazy. Not just normal crazy, but fucking crazy.

Yzak grinned wider at the groans of complaint that resounded from the assorted recruits. "Well, if you really want to quit that badly, then I guess I'll just have to call a shuttle to take you back to the PLANTs." Captain Joule announced as he activated his omni-tool to do just that.

"I… am not giving up here…" Tali forced herself to her wobbly feet with considerable effort and willpower, gritting her teeth. "I'm not… wasting this chance… I was given…"

"Oh-hoh," the captain smirked as he saw the youngest recruit pull herself up. "Looks like we've actually got someone with a spine, unlike the rest of you."

"Fuck this… I'm… out…" one of the recruits groaned, planting his face back into the dirt. "You people are fucking crazy…"

"Tali'Zorah, correct?" the Captain spoke to her.

"Yes…" Tali panted, wobbling slightly before supporting herself against the wall.

"Right then, you've earned yourself a quick water break, you have five minutes, sterilized water for dextro-aminos is right over there," he announced, pointing to a small pair of coolers, one of them clearly labeled dextro.

"Yes… sir…" Tali grunted, limping over to the coolers.

"I'm not… giving up either…" another Quarian got out from on the ground as she looked up at Yzak definitely.

"You can get a drink as well," Yzak jerked his head after Tali.

"You guys are nuts…" one of the humans lying on his back grunted out.

"If you want to leave, no one is stopping you," the drill sergeant announced loudly. "This is not some random military or mercenary outfit, this is Fenrir, where only the absolute best of the best reside!"

"Yzak, mind if I join in for the gym session later?" the silver-haired demon in human guise walked up to the drill sergeant, towelling herself off. "I'm still not quite back in shape yet…"

"You… call that… out of shape…?" one of the women wheezed.

Fubuki's toned, glistening muscles were on full display with her wearing just a sports bra and spandex shorts.

"Sure, not a problem," Yzak nodded in agreement. "Plus, that little 'encouragement' you brought out helped out too."

"It sure did, didn't it?" Fubuki giggled at the sense of terror she was getting off the recruits. "By the way, recruits… for those of you that continue… Staring at me the way you did just now is… rude."

A single one of those damned masks exploded into existence again, accompanied by that aura of doom.

"FUCK ME SIDEWAYS! I'M OUT OF HERE!"

"Fucking demons live here!"

"Crazy humans…" Tali sweated as she connected her suit to the cooler and drank in the precious liquid.

"Keelah, I am getting into Fenrir or I'll die trying…" the other Quarian that was still staying strong had crawled over to the cooler.

"Three minutes you two!" Yzak called out to the pair. "Tick tock!"

"I think those humans are rubbing off on us already… we're crazy for staying with them," the other Quarian commented, simply lying on the ground to rest while drinking away with her suit connected to the cooler.

"Fuck this shit, I'm leaving!" a human announced angrily as he began to limp away.

"Looks like people are giving up already," Tali commented dryly as they watched the man leave for the shuttleport.

"So… why Fenrir?" the other Quarian asked. "Sorry, I'm Shaena'Munar nar Jirark… I think… I'm a tech in training… Feels like we're… training for field work…"

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," Tali introduced herself. "And… I guess I just want to prove my worth, they seem to think I have potential as a field engineer."

"We've all been training for that kind of work for years after all…" Shaena groaned. "We're Quarians…"

"I don't think that really matters to them," Tali sighed as she tried to stretch out her joints. "Why else would we be doing this if they only intended us for tech work."

"I kind of want to try piloting one of their giant robots they call mobile suits…" Shaena revealed, glancing over in the direction of the hangars. "I asked the humans, apparently some of them have been piloting since they were children… It's amazing."

"You wanna be a pilot, you have to earn the right to call yourself that!" Yzak cut into their conversation. "Anyone can try and become a pilot, but only a select few actually earn the right to do so, so work your asses off if you want to convince us that you're pilot material. By the way, your break's over."

"Yes, sir!" Tali and Shaena shot upright and looked around.

There were only six other humans gathered around the other cooler.

"So.. eight of 20 remain on the first day, eh?" Yzak called out as he looked them over. "Hmph, well… half of the first day anyways, let's go, fresh meat, time to hit the gym like you mean it!"

"Yes… sir…" the remaining people chorused weakly, well aware that any backtalk would just get them more reps later.

* * *

"So, how did the recruits turn out?" Ryu questioned as Yzak entered the office of the Hisanaga trio.

"Well, six recruits remain, two Quarians and four humans," Yzak announced with a smirk. "Most dropped out after the run, Fubuki gave them quite the motivation to run as fast as they could."

"Ahahahah… you're exaggerating, I didn't do much…" Fubuki rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment as she entered behind Yzak. "So much for the good cop, bad cop routine we were thinking of though."

"We of Fenrir pride ourselves of being the absolute best," Ryu inputted with a smirk as he looked up to the two assigned to the newest recruits. "While the two of you proved yourselves in combat, these recruits must prove themselves through intensive training, after all, if they can't keep up with this training, how can they expect to keep up with our active duty operatives?"

Fubuki raised her hands in surrender. "I was thinking of using other ways to motivate them until they forced me to use it…" she sighed.

"Hey, you gotta be rough with them sometimes to bring out their best," Yzak commented. "This is actually the largest batch that managed to get past the first day in a long time."

"Yzak-kun, you're not too badly affected by it, were you?" Fubuki asked, somewhat worried she might have triggered the former ZAFT pilot.

Yzak shrugged. "Actually, I got over that awhile ago," he admitted with a grin. "Constant exposure made me immune, who knew?"

Fubuki pouted. Rather cutely.

"Although, I have to admit is rather disturbing how cute you can be as a girl," Yzak admitted with a torn expression. "Six months since you changed, and you seem to have adjusted rather well."

"I'm… cute?" Fubuki blushed slightly. "I haven't even been trying to be cute…"

Yzak sighed. "Considering how your mother and Hanami treated you, I'm not surprised," he groaned as he rubbed his forehead. "Has Hanami gone Kagami on you yet?"

Fubuki's blush darkening told him all he needed to know.

"Right, sorry about that," Yzak said sympathetically. "Anyways, we'll be lightening up on the training now that we've weeded out the bad ones, we just need to get them up to our standards now."

Fubuki shook herself out of her thoughts. "The Quarians are very determined, I don't think they'll have trouble impressing us," she observed. "The remaining humans also seem quite alright from a surface scan of their emotions, though I keep reading some lust… it's probably because I'm there."

"Considering your… *ahem* size, I'm not surprised," Yzak commented dryly.

"So, Ryu-san, any thoughts?" Fubuki hurriedly asked, trying not to think about it.

Ryu hummed in thought as he looked over the profiles. "The one Quarian… Shaena'Munar… she wanted to be a pilot correct?" he asked, looking over at Yzak.

"Yup, gave her the usual spiel about it being earned," Yzak replied with a nod.

"Right, keep me updated on her progress with that," he instructed. "I'm rather curious about the potential of Quarian pilots."

"They're kind of missing a few fingers compared to humans, I wonder if that would affect piloting ability…" Fubuki wondered, flexing her fingers.

"But, they have amazing instincts when it comes to machines," Yzak pointed out. "Plus it's not like we haven't modified the triggers before, one of Stella's pilots is missing his trigger finger on his left hand after all."

"I know, but it's still four less digits to manipulate controls with," Fubuki pointed out. "It's a question of whether or not their fine motor control with their three fingers is good enough to make up for the difference."

"How about this then," Ryu offered with a smirk. "Set aside a simulator for her, one of our standard issue ones, and if she can figure out how to modify the controls for her physiology, then she can undergo pilot training."

"I suppose that'll work," Fubuki agreed quickly. "We can help as well, I doubt she'll be able to figure out the finer points of the OS without our guidance."

"Don't give her all the information though," Yzak told his fellow pilot. "We have to make it clear that this is a test for her, her chance to become a pilot by making use of her own skills."

"Alright," the silverette smiled. "Do we have anything planned for the evening?"

"Not really," the silver haired man shook his head in response. "The recruits are resting and the sudden night training won't start up till next week. Why?"

"Well…" Fubuki paused slightly, scratching her chin in contemplation. "Stella and Dearka both invited me to head out for dinner, but I'm agonizing over who to go with…"

"Ah," Yzak replied, instantly understanding her plight. "Was wondering when this was going to happen to be honest…"

"Dearka started asking to sit with me for meals and suggesting nice places to eat a month ago," the genderbent Yukikaze smiled wistfully. "He never used to ask, so I don't even need my empathy to tell he's interested in me again. I just… don't really feel like telling him I can already tell so much, it feels like it'd be rude to him? I don't know."

Yzak sighed as he scratched his head. "Dammit, look… I ain't exactly the best person to ask for relationship advice," he admitted reluctantly. "So I'll just be blunt with you, Dearka's always been interested, even if he wasn't completely aware of it himself. I'm not saying he's gay or anything, it's just that you two complement each other well and work well as a team. Stella has been interested in a relationship with you ever since she hit puberty and grew up, at some point you're going to have to talk to the two of them about this, and in my opinion, you need to talk to both of them at the same time."

"Um, Ryu-san, Kira-san, Lacus-san…" Fubuki shifted uncomfortably. "Don't you have anything to say about this? It's your adopted daughter we're talking about after all…"

The three chuckled as they looked at each other. "Stella is free to chose who she wishes to have a relationship with," Kira replied in amusement. "And it would be rather hypocritical of us to stop her if she chose to have a three way relationship after all."

"You know, a relationship like this feels like something that could only happen in a manga…" Fubuki muttered awkwardly, fidgeting slightly. "Turning into a girl, having a girl that was interested in me when I was still a guy still liking me, having a guy like me… It's like something right out of a manga plot."

Lacus giggled in response. "Well, that's what happens when you deal with the unknown, anything could happen," she announced playfully. "Good luck courting Stella-chan and Dearka-san, Fubuki-chan!"

Fubuki raised her hands and sighed, "I still don't know if I can accept being in a polyamorous relationship. Just please, let me think about it first. The guy part of me left can accept being in a lesbian relationship with Stella-san, and I'm also not entirely opposed to the idea of dating Dearka-kun… I… I guess I just need to reconcile the two of them."

"Don't tug our daughter's affections too long you player," Ryu commented, trying to hide his amusement at the situation.

"Please don't tell Stella I'm actually seriously considering the idea of dating her yet," Fubuki had a pained smile on her face.

"Oh no, we wouldn't ruin this surprise," Lacus informed with a sly grin.

"Somehow that doesn't reassure me one bit," the silverette withdrew a step at the pinkette's expression.

"Considering Lacus' other side the public don't see is an incorrigible deviant, are you really that surprised?" Kira asked teasingly. "Where did you think Stella got her attitude from, Ryu?"

"A-Anyway," Fubuki cleared her throat warily. "Just let me think about it… I'll suggest the three of us eat together tonight I guess."

"Good luck," Yzak informed her as he patted her on the shoulder. "Myself, I got a date with Luna, so, see ya."

"Um, good luck to you too," Fubuki smiled weakly.

"You need it more than I do," Yzak called out as he stepped out of the office. "I'm not trying to court my bosses daughter along with a boytoy on the side!"

Fubuki slumped as the door closed behind Yzak.

* * *

"Hey, having trouble keeping up, Anderson?" a voice called out to a dark skinned, brown eyed soldier as a squad ran in full kit through one of the many mountainous valleys on Shanxi. "You seem to be lagging behind there!"

David Anderson grunted a bit in response as he maintained his steady pace near the back of the pack. "At least I'll be able to pass the finish line," he retorted dryly. "It's not about being in first, it's about surviving."

"Sure, sure. It's been pretty peaceful lately though - most we've gotten for target practice are those bunch of pig-looking things," came a reply.

"I'm more than happen to have that for target practice," the grizzled squad Captain growled in response. "Unlike most of you, I lived through the worst of the Bloody Valentine War."

"But the worst of it is over now, right?" one of the other men remarked. "Blue Cosmos hasn't been showing their heads around anymore, and that Neo ZAFT faction on the other side doesn't seem to be gaining any traction."

"Doesn't mean we can relax," Anderson said as he jogged around a fallen tree. "Who knows what else will be waiting out there once we actually go out there."

"Not-so-nice aliens?" someone suggested. "I saw a female Quarian the other day. Can't believe they have boobs too. Shame they have to wear those suits of theirs."

"Not forever," another squad member called out enthusiastically. "My brother is part of the geneticist team working with them, says there's a good chance they can help them fix their issue."

"Cool. I wonder if Playboy would take a few Quarian models…"

"Is that all you guys think about?" the squad's only female member huffed in disgust - ironically she was also their heavy weapons specialist, meaning she was keeping pace with about a hundred extra pounds. "Get your head out of the gutter already!"

"Come on, we're guys, we have needs!" someone protested. "And we get cranky if those needs aren't fulfilled!"

A few other men chorused in agreement.

"Like I give a rat's ass!" the woman shouted. "I don't need to hear that shit, thank you very much!"

"I think there's some appeal in their tight bodysuits though?" one of the men put forward.

Anderson sighed as the female chucked a rock at the speaker's head and shook his head. They were among the very first N7 operatives of the Council, equal to Terminal and Fenrir in capabilities, and yet they showed none of the professionalism. Although considering some of the rumors of Fenrir… maybe they were par for the course.

"Well, since you all seem to have the energy to talk, maybe we should add in another dozen clicks to the run!" the captain shouted out back to the squad.

"What!? Fuck you guys! Really. Fuck you guys."

"Not if you were the last male in existence."

"Shutting up now, sir."

Anderson groaned as he gritted his teeth and kept his feet moving in the same steady pace.

* * *

 **One Year after the Quarians Joined the Sol Council**

* * *

"Alright, listen up, the simulator cockpits you're sitting in right now are for Fenrir's primary mobile suit, the FMS-100 Jotnar," Jinn instructed in a dry voice as he walked along the line of simulator cockpits. Over the course of six months, inexperienced recruits had been chosen from the various trainee squads - 30 in all - for testing in mobile suit training, and Jinn had drawn the short stick for the introductory lesson. "Our goal for today is to have you walking in them like a normal person."

"Yes sir!" the recruits chorused, the long six months having knocked into them a healthy sense of respect… and fear of the senior members of the organization. Thus, no more backtalk.

Of course, it helped that there was a silver-haired woman standing off to the side that bore a suspicious resemblance to the other one that had been terrorizing them with floating Noh masks during their training.

"Now, I'm hoping that because you were chosen out of the recruits who are supposed to be the best of the best, that this will go simply, but… I've been proven wrong before," Jinn commented with a grimace. "So, while normally the Jotnar is a multi-mode unit, meaning it can switch between different packs, we will only be using the base form today, no need to overwhelm your fragile little minds yet."

"Yes, sir," a somewhat more disappointed chorus.

"Now, now, don't be like that…" the silverette piped up. "If you do well enough during this training, we might very well see if you can get a custom unit!"

Jinn raised his eyebrow at her for a moment before shrugging. "Starting up the sim," he announced. "Familiarize yourself with the controls, experiment a bit, and we'll start in ten minutes. All weapons are disabled."

"Finally I'll get to move one of these babies!" Shaena cheered as she strapped herself into her own customized simulator cockpit and the hatch closed over her. "Granted it's only in VR but still!"

"Remember, this is only the beginning," Jinn cautioned her, his voice crackling over the radio. "Being able to learn how to use a mobile suit is only the start to earning a unit of your own."

"Yes, sir!" Shaena saluted enthusiastically before firmly gripping her modified controls. The buttons had been adjusted to be larger, sizing for a Quarian's larger fingers and in two rows instead of the normal one. Tali's had been modified in much the same way.

"Key thing to remember about mobile suits, is that their center of mass is not the same as ours," Jinn informed loudly. "When the Mass Effect core is not active, the center of mass is closer to the upper chest due to the reactor mounted there."

"You know, Tali, it's impressive how the humans have managed to incorporate mass effect into even things like this," Shaena sighed happily as the simulator began to boot up. "Selective increase and decrease of mass of specific parts of an object, not just an overall change of mass."

"Keep in mind, however, not every unit has the same center of mass," Jinn continued. "Depending on the equipment loaded onto the mobile suit, or even the mobile suits composition, or even if it is transformation capable, all of these can affect your center of mass and even how your unit moves."

"And people have been using these without Mass Effect fields?" Tali commented in amazement as she looked through the assorted controls for her machine. "That in itself is amazing…"

"It's why there was a point in time where mobile suits could only be piloted by Coordinators, those who are genetically enhanced from birth to increase physical and mental performance," Hanami added, having been listening to the Quarians. "Eventually we developed an operating system incorporating a rudimentary piloting assist AI that allowed normal humans to pilot them too."

"Oh man, we've loaded into the ORB Islands?" one of the other pilot recruits breathed out in surprise as the island nation loaded in around them, complete with an azure sky stretching all around the horizon, and blue seas. "Damn, wish I could visit them for real…"

The group of trainees had spawned in on a coastal base, with a sprawling beach in the distance and a large city further inland. It was almost a perfect replica of ORB.

"So this is Earth?" Shaena looked around, her simulated mobile suit tracking her head movement and moving to follow. "It's… beautiful."

"Yeah…" Tali said in agreement. "The water is so blue as well…"

"Welcome to ORB, ladies and gentlemen," Jinn said nostalgically. "Homeland of Uzumi Nara Attha, I suggest you get started on getting used to your mobile suit, because by the end of your training today, you will be defending this land from Earth Alliance forces."

"What?" came a chorus of voices over the comms.

"One of several situations drawn up by Sentry," Jinn informed calmly. "We figure it's best learning if trainees are thrown feet first."

"But we're still barely able to even move!" one of the trainees protested, stumbling around in his virtual mobile suit.

One of the other trainees was flailing around on the pavement of the runway after tripping over, trying and failing to get back up.

"Then you'd best learn quickly," Jinn commented in a dry tone. "Don't worry, it's set to the lowest difficulty, so there won't be any custom units or ace pilots, and you will be having several ORB Astrays on your side."

"Great," one of the other trainees growled, forcing his unit to its feet.

"Trust your instincts," Jinn advised as they began to slowly move their units around. "Once you get started, piloting mobile suits is a very simple prospect."

"Says the expert," Tali grumbled as she pushed her unit back to its feet after she tripped.

"Ufufufu~ If you have time to talk, shouldn't you be focusing on learning the controls instead?" a bone-chilling cheery voice called out over the comms.

"What is it with those silver haired women in Fenrir?" another recruit questioned as he finally managed to get his unit moving somewhat normally after making a few adjustments to the OS. "Hey guys, don't forget to adjust the standard OS for your own reaction times!"

"Tali, link the systems to your omni-tool!" Shaena said as her virtual Jotnar got to its feet.

"Huh? Oh!" Tali commented as she activated her omni-tool and adjusted the OS using it. "Yeah, this is much better," she nodded in agreement. "It's much smoother when I use it to compensate."

Outside of the cockpit simulators, Jinn checked his clock. Two minutes until the simulated siege began. 'But since when did war follow other people's timelines?' he thought wryly and nodded to the simulator controller who nodded back and started up the siege simulation.

"Ufufufu, we're really putting them through the wringer…" Hanami giggled.

"We have to," Jinn informed casually as he watched the screen showing the simulation from several angles as the rookies were suddenly bombarded by the EA fleet. "So that they don't get killed during real battle."

Two of the Daggers spawning onboard the EA carriers stumbled around for several moments before taking off together with the rest.

"Ufufufufu~ Jinn-koi…" Hanami chuckled knowingly.

"I see…" Jinn sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "We can't stop them now, for now find their simulator units and double the sensory input," he told one of the techs. "Perhaps getting a scare will set them straight when it comes to this."

"Sir? What's happening?" the tech asked cautiously.

"Our daughters decided that they were ready to start piloting mobile suits," Jinn informed as he checked the logs. "Units three and four in bay two," he confirmed seeing the active ones. "And they are doing this without permission I may add."

"Y-Yes, sir…" the tech nodded, performing the necessary adjustments.

"We're going to have to have a serious talk with them later," Jinn commented to Hanami with a serious look. "In their mind, it would only be a single step away to pilot an actual mobile suit…"

"Yes, yes, we should…" Hanami giggled, beginning to release her aura of doom very faintly, not enough to affect the techs though.

Jinn sighed as he shook his head. "We told them that they could join properly next year, but they still pull this off," he sighed as he checked on the recruits progress. "Out of all the things they inherited from Kagami they had to take her impatience didn't they?"

"The two of them are really just like me, huh…" Hanami smiled. "Well, we'll sort them out later. The recruits really have no excuse if they can't beat the two of them after all."

Jinn nodded in agreement as the EA Dagger units made landfall near the recruits. "Let's see how they perform then, shall we?" he questioned with a bit of a grin.

"Alright, just keep myself steady… and fire!" Tali chanted to herself as she aimed the Jotnar's condensed Beam Rifle at the enemy unit before firing it.

The Dagger she had been aiming at jumped out of the way and closed in with a beam saber drawn.

Keep her breath calm she manipulated her unit to sidestep out of the way before drawing out her own beam saber in preparation for CQC.

"UWAAAAGH!"

"Recruit Spencer, out!"

Tali risked a glance over as she saw another Jontar explode from a Dagger's beam rifle, before turning back to her own opponent and charging them, bringing the shield to the forefront to block any retaliation as she pushed towards the enemy Dagger before her.

The Dagger responded with the head vulcans, peppering the kinetic shield the Jontar was equipped with, making it easy for Tali to push the Dagger off it's feet with her shield before stabbing the beam saber into the cockpit, causing it to cease all movement.

"Recruit Zorah has a confirmed kill," the simulator controller announced.

"Hey, w-wait, I haven't even gotten up y-!"

A Dagger stomped on another Jotnar lying on the ground and fired a beam rifle into its cockpit block at point blank range.

"Recruit Rodriguez, out!"

"Keelah, this is easy mode?" Shaena grunted, pushing a Dagger aside with a shield bash and kicking it in the waist to stagger it before yanking it in close to punch repeatedly in the chest until it caved in.

"Recruit Munar, confirmed kill!"

"You're telling me," Tali groused as she put the back of her unit to the back of Shaena's. "I'd hate to see what they see as impossible…"

"Above!" Shaena cried out in warning and the two Jotnars pushed away from each other as a pair of Daggers came in for a dynamic entry, feet-first. Upon landing, their two opponents immediately drew beam sabers and split up to pursue the both of them.

Tali flared her thrusters, making use of the Jotnar's superior mobility to keep herself away from her attacker as she fired at the Dagger on the move, her shots drawing closer with each shot.

"Recruit Atlert, confirmed kill!"

"Keep going on the path you're on!" another recruit advised Tali. "I can provide support fire if you draw them over here."

"Right, I'm on it!" Tali shouted as she pushed further back, keeping the pressure on her opponent as she did so.

The next beam shot came uncomfortably close to Tali's Jotnar's head.

"Watch out for friendly fire!" another recruit called out, trading beam fire with a pair of Daggers as it ducked behind a hangar.

"Sorry bout that, still trying to compensate my aim!" the shooting recruit hurriedly apologized as he shot again, giving her more space while getting closer to the Dagger.

Abruptly the two Daggers engaging the Quarians switched with each other and drew their second beam sabers, dual-wielding them and closing the distance once more, clashing their beam sabers against their shields and simultaneously using them for cover against their rifle-wielding compatriots.

"Damn, something's up with these two!" a recruit shouted as he joined in shooting at the pair, having to be very careful about placing his shots lest he hit either of the two duelling Jotnars. "Did they lie about adding experienced pilots or something?"

"Kyaaah!" a foreign, young female voice came over the comms as Shaena's fist impacted with one of the Daggers' head. The other Dagger immediately fell back, pulled out its beam rifle and began firing in between Shaena and its companion, forcing them to separate.

"I guess they have actual pilots instead of simulated ones!" Tali shouted as she separated from the Dagger trying to cut her down before teaming up with another recruit to fire from the Dagger's flanks, being careful not to hit the other on a miss.

Not to far away another recruit took position on a cliff in a kneeling position as he brought down a precision targeting system. "Alright, I'm at a sniping point, providing covering fire!" he announced before opening fire on the two units.

The Dagger Shaena had punched paused for a moment, before spinning towards the sniper's location and spraying inaccurate beam fire at it, forcing the sniper back into cover. Its companion suddenly tossed its own beam rifle into the air to be caught by the first Dagger, who then continued suppressing the sniper and covering its companion at the same time.

"Hmm, mark the sniper for a possible custom weapon pack," he instructed a nearby tech who nodded, making the note. "Not many are confident enough to try sniping on their first time…"

"I think they're Newtypes too," Hanami blinked, staring at the two Daggers her daughters were piloting.

"Possible," Jinn agreed. "But they made a mistake."

Suddenly a pair of white and orange mobile suits rushed past Tali and Shaena to engage the Daggers, while accurate sniper fire came from behind targeting the EA mobile suits as well. The beam saber-wielding Dagger brought its sabers up into the path of the beam in an attempt to block and lost part of its shoulder trying as it miscalculated slightly.

Tali blinked before smiling under her visor. "Come on!" she shouted. "Surround them, make sure to stagger yourselves so we don't hit each other!"

"Right, I can provide fire again!" the sniper recruit informed as he got back into position to take aim at the two Daggers. "Don't worry about my shots, they'll be narrow, but I won't hit my allies!"

"Not bad," Jinn commented with a grin at the twins were slowly being worn down by the combined assault, led by the better controlled Astray AIs. "I think they passed the first test, we can have them work on customizing their units next."

"I'll make a note of it, sir," a tech announced as he began drawing up the plans for the future.

"Our girls are actually doing surprisingly well, though they need a lot of work on shooting accuracy and melee attacks," Hanami noted. "Only their teamwork is keeping them alive now…"

"True," Jinn nodded. "Make note of it for the future, until after they have been punished for breaking the rules."

He turned his attention to the screen as the two finally succumbed to the assault as their machines exploded, finished off by the two Quarian pilots. "Mark those two for custom units in the future as well."

"Yessir."

* * *

"Mugyuu."

"Mugiii."

Jinn stared at his daughters in a deadpan, disapproval written on his face as he stared at them. "Well?" he questioned.

"We're sorry, dad…" Shirayuri and Tsubaki both kneeled at the feet of their dad. "We wanted to prove we could pilot!"

Jinn barely reacted outside of raising his eyebrow. "Did you forget that you were being allowed to join next year? Or did you think that this stunt would get you special treatment?" he commented,

"We didn't, but at least let us use the simulators!" Shirayuri shook her head, still kneeling. "You've kept us out of them all our lives!"

"Yeah! Let us use the simulators for training first!" Tsubaki echoed her twin.

"No," Jinn announced firmly. "If you want to become a Fenrir pilot, then you have to do it the same as everyone else," his stare at them sharpened. "And I am even less inclined to do this after you disrupted the training of our new recruits."

The two girls shrunk in on themselves. "Yes, dad…" they whispered sullenly.

"Well… if our girls want to be pilots so much, why don't we assign them to Yzak-kun first?" Hanami had an evil gleam in her eyes. "Have the two of them join in the daily tort- ahem, physical training."

"Mom said that on purpose!" Tsubaki yelled. "She stopped saying torture on purpose!"

"A good idea," Jinn commented with a nod. "So, from now on, every morning a 0400 hours, and every evening at 2000 hours you will be joining Yzak's training," he told the pair in a tone that dared them to argue. "In addition to eating at the regular mess hall for your meals, not the one your mother cooks at."

"Nooooooo!" the twins shrieked. "Not the rations!"

"Ufufufu~" Hanami giggled darkly, aura of doom leaking out once more.

"We meant yes mom! We love rations!" the twins hurriedly corrected themselves, huddling together for comfort.

Jinn sighed as he shook his head. "I also want you two to think about this," he told them. "What if you had joined in a live fire exercise to 'prove yourselves'?"

"We wouldn't have! Not until we have more experience in the simulators!" Shirayuri shook her head.

"Really?" Jinn questioned knowingly. "Because I think that you would, and nearly get yourselves killed through you recklessness!" he shouted, the twins flinching at the rare occurrence of him raising his voice. "Even when we're not doing live fire there are still accidents that result in injuries and even fatalities if we're unlucky! What do you think that would do to us if that ever happened to you!?"

"Uuuuuu…" the twins whimpered.

Jinn let out another sigh. "Go to your rooms and think about what I said, please," he told them. "I am not forbidding you from joining Fenrir if that's what you want, but I want you two to be more careful and not rush into things."

"Yes, dad…" the twins sagged and began quietly dragging their feet back to their room.

"I'm always available to talk to if you need me to," Hanami called out after them as they closed the door. "I promise I won't pull out the mask…"

Jinn sighed as he fobbed his face. "I hate having to do that with them," he commented heavily as he shook his head. "But… I don't want them doing something reckless when they're in combat…"

"Do you think… I was too relaxed with them when they were younger?" Hanami sagged into her seat. "That I spoiled them too much?"

Jinn shook his head. "No more than I did," he told her with a wry smirk. "They just have that right mix of bullheadedness and curiosity, they just need to learn to temper it with some caution."

"I guess…" Hanami smiled weakly. "They're just being hormonal kids is all, I guess…"

"Don't remind me of their hormones," Jinn groaned as he thumped his head on the desk. "I still dread the time when they start to take an interest in boys."

"Well, you can easily track them by using the cameras around the station, right?" Hanami chuckled. "Of course, I'll help as well."

Jinn grinned wryly before shrugging. "Either way, I just hope we have a few years yet," he commented. "Also, Itsuki is going to be assigned to a squad proper next week, isn't he?"

"I don't think we can have him in our squad without me showing some preferential treatment," Hanami sighed. "He's our son after all…"

Jinn nodded in agreement. "He's being assigned to Red Squadron off of the Havoc," he informed with a slight smile. "Earned it too, I'm proud of him for getting onto the ace squadron of our super-assault carrier."

"That's great," Hanami beamed. "But that's the squadron that trains three times as hard as the rest, right?"

Jinn nodded in confirmation. "The squad lead," he consulted his notes for a moment to confirm the name. "Lily Harshin is a bit of a slave driver, but she gets good results from her squad on the field."

"Harshin?" Hanami couldn't help letting out an amused snort. "Oddly appropriate name for a harsh officer."

Jinn chuckled in amusement. "She's called Major Harsh for a reason," he agreed. "But, she is one of our better pilots. Hell, she was on the short list for the pilots of the Forseti, remember the mass produced Justice that was being produced? Well, it was too expensive, but a few were still produced."

"Well, I hope Itsuki can cope with the training…" the silverette sighed, laying her hand on Jinn's own. "If not… well, better he gets scared off the battlefield."

Jinn nodded in agreement as he gripped her hand. "Our censoring of what it's like on the battlefield may have had an unintended effect," he commented dryly. "But, I think they will be able to handle it."

"Yeah… you're right, we need to have faith in our kids," Hanami placed her head on Jinn's shoulder affectionately.

Jinn hummed in agreement as he leaned into her. "Yeah," he vocalized. "Well, them and their squad mates anyways."

* * *

"I'm glad at least a quarter of the bunch is mostly out of our hands now…" Fubuki slumped over on the canteen table. "Although most of them might be back here soon enough…"

Yzak snorted in amusement as he sat down nearby. "Tell me about it, hopefully we don't draw the short stick again anytime soon," he agreed. "Now I know how my drill instructor felt back in boot camp."

"You know, you're really picking up on Ryu-san's own training methods yourself," Fubuki looked up at her colleague.

"Can't really argue when it gets results," the silver haired pilot informed dryly. "Especially when it weeds the weaklings out. And makes the ones determined enough strong enough to survive in our line of work."

"Yeah, I'd hate to see them in body bags too," Fubuki admitted, slumping back onto the table and squishing her sizable assets against it, unintentionally giving Yzak a perfect view through the top of her sports bra.

Yzak averted his gaze from her accidental flashing. "So, how is it going with the Stella and Dearka situation?" he questioned curiously. "Managed to figure something out?"

His colleague's forehead met the tabletop. "Give me some more time to think about it…"

Yzak let out a sigh. "Eventually, there isn't going to be any time," he told her plainly. "Especially in our line of work, we never know if it's going to be an accident, line of duty, or bad information that does us in, the question is, do you want regrets left behind when it happens?"

"B-But my brain and my heart are still fighting over the decision…" Fubuki let out a muffled whisper.

Yzak looked over at the door and smirk a bit as he saw two familiar blonds. "Well, you may have to make your choice sooner than you think," he told her, slightly teasingly.

"I can sense them, you know… you're not tripping me up here," Fubuki tapped her forehead without looking up.

Yzak chuckled. "Mm, but can you sense what their eyes are saying?" he questioned, seeing a determined look on their eyes. "I think they want to resolve this little triangle in some way."

Fubuki smacked her head on the table once. "I'm not so sure if I'm ready for a talk like this…"

"No one is ever ready," Yzak confided in her. "Good luck, Fubuki, I'm off to visit my girlfriend to not get dragged into this."

Fubuki smacked her head on the table again. "Thanks for the help, Yzak…" she muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, I just so happen to have a self-preservation instinct thank you," Yzak commented with a chuckle as he headed towards the exit of the canteen as Stella and Dearka reached the silverette.

"You free, Fubuki?" Stella asked with a soft smile.

"…Yeah…" the silverette forced a smile as she looked up at her two approaching… possibly romantic partners. "I guess we need to get this talk over with as soon as possible, huh…"

"Well, sorry to corner you like this, but… well, you've been avoiding us for quite a while now," Dearka shrugged a bit as he sat down across from her with Stella.

"I'm sorry, but I needed to sort out my own feelings… and I feel a little pressured whenever either of you two are around," Fubuki slumped over, once again squashing her breasts to the table very visibly.

"That's why we want to help you," Stella told her comfortingly. "We know this is hard for you."

"I'm not saying I'm not attracted to you two…" Fubuki blushed. "But yeah, part of me is still… thinking like a guy and yet my body is…" she trailed off, knowing the others understood her.

"That's no issue for us," Dearka admitted with a sigh. "Look, we're not expecting an answer today, we just wanted to lay things out on the table."

"Dearka… you're fine with this?" Fubuki asked awkwardly. "I mean… I know you actually were crushing on me back before it was outed that I was a guy when we first met, and we've been friends for so long…"

"Yup," Dearka confirmed bluntly. "Honestly, I think we'd be having this conversation eventually even if you were still a guy… I can't really explain it properly, but, can't see myself with anyone but you, male or female."

"Maybe being turned into a woman wasn't such a bad thing…" Fubuki giggled. "This way you won't actually be gay."

Dearka snorted. "Just another useless label for those insecure about their own lives," he countered dryly with a wry smirk. "Like I said, I can't see myself with anyone else, can't explain why completely, but, yeah."

"Ah, but I guess doing… it as a guy wouldn't be as much fun?" Fubuki chuckled. "It sounds painful actually."

"Wouldn't know, never tried it," Dearka admitted, chuckling with the silverette.

"So… Stella I know has been crushing on me for ages already… and doesn't mind that I'm a woman now," Fubuki glanced over at the other blonde.

"Nope!" Stella agreed with a grin. "Fubuki is Fubuki, no matter what shape, gender or form you take, and I will always love Fubuki."

"Then… can both of you accept being together with each other as well?" Fubuki hesitated for a moment before asking, blushing up a storm.

The two looked at one another before turning to Fubuki. "Yup," they said in stereo.

"We talked about it a couple of months ago," Stella informed with a grin at Fubuki's blush. "We came to an agreement that so long as you were okay with it, then so were we."

"Then… that's a relief," Fubuki smiled, getting up and walking to the others' side of the table. "In the end, I couldn't really decide to follow my heart or follow my brain… so I decided if you two were alright with it… then I'd follow both."

Dearka snorted and looked over to Stella. "Really following in your parents footsteps huh?" he questioned dryly, making the blond female giggle in response.

"Yup, growing up with two mommies and a daddy had a real effect on my sense of values," she announced jokingly.

"I can accept that, I guess…" Fubuki chuckled, pulling the two into a hug from behind.

Love. Acceptance. Elation.

"Now, all that's left it to avoid getting castrated by some of the scariest people in this organization," Dearka joked as he looked between the two of them. "Her parents," he pointed at Stella who held her fingers up in a 'V'. "And your sister."

"You're the man out of the three of us after all," Fubuki giggled. "Don't worry, we'll be there to support you. You can even g-grope my breasts if you need some extra reassurance…"

Dearka raised his eyebrow at her with a flat expression as Stella grinned widely in response.

"I know you've been wanting to do it for a while," Fubuki tapped her head. "Can't hide it from me."

"I may be wanting too, but I know how to restrain myself thank you," Dearka replied dryly. "Unlike another somebody who's getting ready to pounce.

"Hey if she's offering I'm taking the chance!" Stella announced as she made grabbing motions with her hands before latching on.

"Hyaaaan~" Fubuki let out a very feminine erotic moan.

Stella let out a perverted giggle as she continued her actions, rubbing her back against Fubuki's suggestively as Dearka sighed at the sight. "I think Fubu-chan is the pervert though letting me do this to her!" she commented cheerfully.

"Nnnngh…" Fubuki whimpered, squirming under Stella's handiwork. "Feels… better than when I do it myself…" she moaned meekly.

"Ooohhh, you experimented with yourself already?" Stella questioned with a giggle. "Well, I hope you didn't break your hymen cause that's for us to break!"

Dearka groaned as he felt the stares of the entire canteen on the threesome, burying his face into his hands.

"I… never got my nipples out…" Fubuki whimpered.

"Oohh, I'm just going to have to dig them out then!" Stella announced as she continued to grope Fubuki's boobs.

"Haahn~ Something's… coming…" Fubuki panted.

Dearka looked up at her statement as Stella managed to slip her hands under Fubuki's bra to dig her fingers into the silverette's inverted nipples. "Mm, you look delicious like this~" Stella cooed as she rubbed her body against Fubuki's, the majority of the crowd in the canteen bleeding from their noses at the sight.

"Stella… my breasts feel funny…" Fubuki groaned, still squirming, before abruptly freezing as the pressure in her breasts abated slightly. "Ah…"

"Mm?" Stella hummed as she felt something wet leak onto her fingers before pulling one of her hands out to see some milk covering them. "Ooohhh, kinky, you're lactating!"

"I'm… what?" a rather dazed Fubuki asked.

"Making milk in your boobies!" Stella announced cheerfully as she showed Fubuki her milk, slowly licking it off of her fingers in a sensual manner. "Yummy~"

"Uhh, girls, you know we're in public right?" Dearka commented before it could go any further. "And I'm certain I'm going to have to go around in my mobile suit threatening some of these people to ensure they erase the videos they were taking of you two."

Fubuki instantly went atomic red.

Stella giggled in amusement. "So what? Isn't it fun being watched like this?" she asked temptingly as she continued to rub herself against Fubuki's back. "Don't you want Dearka to join us like this?"

"Ah… ah… um… uh…" Fubuki stammered, covering her face in shame. "I… um…" she shook her head vehemently.

Stella giggled again in response. "So, shall we move to somewhere more private to have some more fun?" she questioned the silverette impishly.

No response. The silverette had apparently fainted in shame.

Dearka sighed in response. "Take her back to her room… without molesting her more," he told the younger blond who pouted in response, but complied anyways while Dearka turned to the gathered crowd. "Now, there are two ways to handle this, you can come forward and show me you deleting it, or I can get the bosses involved, your choice."

* * *

"I heard a really juicy scene happened in the cafeteria today…"

"Juicy?"

"Sexy, erotic, arousing."

"Yep, involving Instructor Yukikaze… you know, the one that kept terrorizing us with that scary as fuck mask of hers?"

"What about her?"

"She's… off the market. Twice over."

"Really? How the hell did that happen?"

"Well, apparently there was a talk between her and the Chief Mechanic and the bosses' eldest, which ended with the eldest daughter groping the Instructor's chest till she started lactating."

"WHAT!? SHIT, I SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE!"

"Trust me, from the stories I heard about what the chief mechanic did to the ones who were there, it wasn't worth it."

"But that would've been a sight worth dying for…"

"Are your people always so rowdy?" Shaena asked one of the other pilots who the two Quarians had gotten close to during their training.

The pilot snorted, a black haired, brown eyed man who always seemed to be smirking in one way or another. "Welcome to Fenrir, sanity optional," the sniper from their simulated battle commented dryly. "Also known as the Mercenary Guild of Debauchery."

"I… see…" Shaena blinked. "I had heard rumours about the events going on here… but I didn't think they were true."

Sal Vollick snorted again. "From what I can tell, it really isn't anything like that, it's just the ones who are like that also happen to be attention getting," he commented dryly. "But, hey, I'm willing to put up with some crazy for a good paycheck."

"I just want to pilot a mobile suit," Shaena laughed. "I can't complain."

Tali grunted in agreement as she attached her meal packet to the 'induction pipe' to drink it in. "When are we going to be done with the simulators?" she groaned out. "Every day we're just in those simulated cockpits shooting at computer generated targets…"

"Except for our first day, for some reason," Shaena wondered. "Those two that worked really well together, remember?"

Tali let out another groan as her helmet thunked against the table. "Don't remind me, I know they've grown up around the things, but knowing a bunch of kids were doing better than us is a pain in the ass," she announced glumly.

"Tali, they were also the instructors' children," Shaena reminded.

"I know!" Tali cried out. "It still doesn't change the fact that we struggled against a pair of kids who weren't even trainees at the time!"

"We'll just beat them the next time they show up," Shaena laughed. "Don't think too much about it."

Sal chuckled in amusement. "Well, maybe this will cheer you up," he told the two with a conspiratorial stage whisper. "I overheard the instructors talking after yesterday's training session, apparently they're going to be letting us customize our simulated units soon."

"I bet you're adding a proper sniper rifle," Shaena grinned.

"Yup," Sal confirmed with a nod. "It's not one of the standard packs that most people end up using, but the option is there."

"I still don't know what I'm going to add to mine…" Shaena thought out loud. "Tali, what about you?"

"I'm going to try the Sverd pack, and work my way from there," Tali informed with a shrug. "Might be best for me to stick to the basic back for now."

"I know I'm going to use that pack as well, I just… hmm…" Shaena mused. "Actually I have an idea. I wonder if I can incorporate my hacking skills into piloting somehow… electronic warfare I believe you humans call it?"

"Instructor Jinn would be able to help you with that," Sal told her. "That's the entire premise for his mobile suit. Not sure what he's going to have you do in order to earn it."

"Don't worry, the average Quarian is probably good enough to hack almost any mobile suit out there within seconds," Shaena grinned. "Granted, we'll only be able to disable it for a short time rather than take control of it entirely though…"

Sal raised an eyebrow at her. "Just to give you fair warning, Instructor Jinn is on a whole other level when it comes to hacking," he told her. "He's hacking in the middle of combat while under fire, not to mention he can keep pace with Sentry when it comes to computer programming."

"I said the average Quarian," Shaena wagged a finger. "Tali here I know isn't any average Quarian, that I can be certain of. I'm quite confident in my own hacking skill too, of course, but she's better than me."

Sal shrugged in response. "Eh, good luck all the same," he told them plainly. "No telling what Instructor Jinn will do when he finds out about your wish to combat hack."

"If we can't handle piloting and hacking at the same time, I'm sure we can find a way to install a VI in the mobile suit to help piloting somewhat," Shaena chuckled. "We've got our own ways to make up for the lack of two extra digits."

Tali grumbled again. "It was so hard to modify the hand held controls for three fingers…" she sighed, looking down at her hands and flexing her fingers. "Just 4 buttons did so much in the unit."

"Let's work on linking a VI to the systems next then," Shaena nodded at Tali. "Either we need to build one from scratch on the human systems, completely rewrite the OS using our own language, or put together a conversion package…"

Tali nodded in agreement as her omnitool flashed to life. "I believe I have a program we can use as a base," she informed as she began modifying it.

"So, conversion package first then," Shaena concluded, bringing up her own omnitool. "Later on… I guess we could try to just build a proper VI on their OS. Odds are, even if the rest of the Migrant Fleet gets their hands on mobile suits, we'll be using their OSes anyway."

Sal chuckled as he watched the two Quarians work away on their omnitools. "Welp, you two have fun with that then," he commented as stood up. "I have some gear I need to do some maintenance for."

The two distracted Quarians idly waved him away as they tinkered away at their omnitools.

* * *

"Ufufufufu~" Hanami was smiling mysteriously as the pilot trainees filed into the room.

"That laugh again. She's doing that blasted laugh again. That's not a good sign."

"Alright, today we will be doing something a bit different," Jinn announced calmly. "As you know, the FMS-100 Jotnar is a multi-mode unit, meaning it is capable of equipping a large number of support packs, many of which are highly customizable, we have unlocked the support pack customization for use in the simulators, so, get into your units, and get started, you have one hour to make your changes."

"Um… Instructor Hisanaga? Are there going to be any surprises this time around?" one of the recruits asked hesitantly. "The other Instructor… Hisanaga is laughing rather suspiciously."

"Ufufufu~ I have no idea what you're talking about…" Hanami simply continued smiling in her usual mysteriously ominous manner.

"Unfortunately, for you, your opponent is classified at this time," Jinn told them. "You will be facing an unknown number of enemy units, with an unknown number of aces mixed in."

"We'll be facing ACES!?"

"You guys have been in training for long enough to understand how to control your mobile suits properly in combat," Hanami pointed out. "It's vital for you to gain experience in fighting an ace in the simulator first, or else you'll clam up in a real fight, and you never know when one might show up. Granted we might be facing aliens in fighter craft but the same principles apply when you run into a more skilled opponent."

"My sister mainly piloted mobile armors until she recently started piloting a transforming mobile suit," Jinn informed them. "Just because your weapon may have the advantage, doesn't guarantee an automatic win, in fact, some mobile armors developed are like miniature battleships with the power of their weapons and defenses and are quite dangerous for mobile suits to face off against."

"Why do I get the feeling we're being thrown under the keel of a warship here and we're being argued into doing it anyway?"

"Probably 'coz we are…"

"Tick tock, everyone," Jinn announced. "Every minute you spend chatting outside of your cockpit, is another minute you don't have for customizing your units!"

The recruits spared several seconds to glance at each other before rushing for their simulators.

Jinn spared a look at his wife as she slipped into her own cockpit once everyone was inside their own, before looking over their customization process.

Tali meanwhile was downloading the VI that she and Shaena made to assist with their combat hacking into the OS of the simulator. "My VI is loaded, how about yours, Shaena?" she asked as she began making adjustments to her unit.

"Working fine here too," Shaena replied with a sigh of relief. "A few errors, but nothing we can't fix given some time."

Tali hummed in agreement as she went about selecting her load out, opting for the Sverd pack that loaded a 14m Beam Sword, a pair of forearm rocket anchors and a pair of armor lumiere based beam boomerangs/sabers, and to compensate for the lack of ranged options she also selected a beam shotgun, while short in range it still had longer range than her standard weapons. "My loadout is good," she announced to her squad, herself, Shaena and Sal. "How are you two?"

"Solid here," Sal informed calmly as he checked over his sniper equipped unit. "Camera and rifle are looking good."

"No electronic warfare option, all I can get is a better antenna," Shaena sighed. "That's on top of the Sverd pack and an extra beam sword."

"I guess the average pilot doesn't really need more than that," Tali commented. "So, I guess basically what we're going to do is Shaena and I keep the enemy busy while Sal snipes them, basic but it works, right?"

"Simple is the best sometimes!" Shaena grinned, bringing up the more advanced tuning options. "Now excuse me while I nitpick on the power flow settings…"

"And you rag on me for being so finicky with my personal rifle," Sal commented dryly. "Talk about double standards."

"Hey, I just can't understand you treating it like it's alive," Shaena fired back cheerfully.

"Lily and I share a bond that shall never be broken," Sal regaled. "Without her, I am lost and alone in a sea of danger, and without me she is but a simple gun, it is together, that we find perfection."

"And there he goes getting all poetic again…" Shaena let out an insufferable sigh.

"This is Sal we're talking about after all," Tali chuckled in amusement as the sniper continued his soliloquy about his sniper rifle. "It's entertaining at least."

"Can't talk to him when he's proclaiming his romantic interest for his rifle though," Shaena chuckled. "He just tunes everything else out like that."

"That is very true," Tali sighed in agreement. "Then he also starts that chant of his whenever he's lining up a shot…"

"Something about how he'll become the bullet itself?" her fellow Quarian pilot thought out loud. "Well, then again he did say sanity's optional in Fenrir. I think the both of us are being corrupted by them."

Tali sighed in agreement. "How true," she groaned in agreement. "I'm almost afraid of what 'quirk' I'll develop… or if I'll be able to face my family again…"

"Given what we'll be bringing back I don't think they'll object," Shaena laughed. "Even if we can't bring back classified tech, we can still teach the Migrant Fleet how to handle mobile suits at the very least."

Tali nodded. "True enough," she replied.

"Anyways, I'm ready to launch," Shaena declared with as much confidence as a house cat staring down a lion's maw could have. "An ace though… we're facing an ace… I can't tell if I'm shaking in fear or anticipation learning how he moves his mobile suit. Maybe both."

"Just don't get so caught up in observing them that you get your ass kicked," Sal commented with a grin. "I need my meat shields to be mobile after all."

Tali mentally rolled her eyes at that, even as she got her machine ready to launch.

"Alright, simulation is booting up," Jinn announced over their radios. "Your mission today is survival," he proclaimed. "No mission objectives, just seek and destroy all enemy units without being destroyed yourselves. You launch in 30 seconds."

"Survival against an ace…" Shaena's breathing was audible through the comms. "Easier said than done."

"Calm your breathing, Shaena," Sal's voice said calmly. "You're not fighting alone, we've got your back, and our instructors haven't given us impossible tasks before."

"Right," the Quarian pilot nodded. "Hey Tali, Sal if we get through this I'm treating everyone to a round of drinks."

"Deal," the second Quarian agreed instantly as a launch catapult showed up before them, opening to reveal what looked to be a wasteland with several canyons and caves dotting the land along with several risen plateaus and what looked like a mountain in the distance. "Lots of hiding places."

"We can work with that," Sal agreed with a small frown of thought. "As soon as we land, we get to the mountain, more hiding places and sniper nests there."

"Then Tali and I hold the target in place while you snipe, right?" Shaena gripped her controls tight.

"Yup, this'll still give us a good chance to watch our opponent's skill and tactics while we set up," Sal commented in agreement, the lights indicating a launch showing up on their screens. "Here is goes, either way, we'll in the bar drowning in victory, or drowning in despair."

"Trainee Unit Five, Launch!" Jinn commanded.

"Tali'Zorah vas Fenrir, Jotnar Sverd, launching!" Tali called out, using the new 'ship name' that all Quarians who were in Fenrir now used, after much debate amongst the recruits.

"Sal Vollick, Jotnar Sniper, taking off!" Sal announced as he quickly followed his teammate out of the launching area.

"Shaena'Munar vas Fenrir, Jotnar Sverd, launching!" Shaena declared, her unit launching as well.

"Hiiiiiii~" a bone-chilling feminine voice came over the comms. "It's nice weather today, isn't it? Seems like the forecast is saying it might rain debris though…?"

"SHI-"

*BOOM*

"Recruit Tatyana, out!"

A white and pink mobile armour zoomed across the battlefield. It wasn't familiar to most of the Fenrir pilots though.

"Break from the group!" Sal shouted as he wrenched on the joystick hard, leading the squad into a deep crevice for cover. "I can't believe we're facing Instructor Hanami…"

"Database shows it as a… Chaos Gundam?" Shaena blinked. "That looks nothing like the picture!"

Hanami's Chaos, aside from having a different colour scheme than the original, also featured several other noticeable differences. The pair of gun pods had been replaced with four beam-firing DRAGOONs which were now wreaking havoc among the other recruits and it also carried a newer model multi phase beam cannon slung underneath it, between its claws, in its mobile armour form.

"I'm giving you recruits a handicap, this isn't a mobile suit I usually use so I'm not used to it at all! Please do your best to shoot my Skystrike Chaos down, ufufufufu~" Hanami giggled.

"No good, she's on my six! AHHHH!"

"Dammit, I can't dodge these DRAGO-"

"HELP! HELP! NOOOOO-"

"Recruits Atlert, Marcos, Strix, down!"

"WHAT KIND OF NOT USED TO IT BULLSHIT IS THAT!? YOU'RE WIPING THE FLOOR WITH US!"

"Well… at least they're distracting her?" Tali offered weakly as the squad moved through the crevice, trying to make as much distance between them and Hanami as possible.

"Oh, nonparticipation for one minute will lead to your positions being highlighted to me and I'll come after you sooner or later, so kindly do give me a good fight~" Hanami called out, even as her trademarked aura of doom spread across the battlefield and a floating white mechanical Noh mask with a V-fin appeared in the air above her customized Chaos. "Ufufufufufufu~"

"NOT AGAIN!?"

"HIIIIIIII! IT'S A DEMON!"

Four beams struck one of the other Jotnars at once from multiple directions, while a multicoloured beam lanced out across the sky and engulfed another Jotnar.

"Recruits Moray, Valmir, down!"

"Ah… fuck," Sal groaned as he rubbed his face. "Up here," he announced after a quick scan, taking cover behind a plateaus. "Right, I'll start laying down some suppressive fire, you guys try and take out her DRAGOON units when they pop out, alright?"

"So we're waiting until she comes to us, is it?" Shaena gulped, staring at the scene unfolding before her. Within 5 minutes their opponent had already decimated a third of all the recruits in the simulator.

"Pretty much," Tali nodded in confirmation as she prepared her shotgun. "This is going to suck."

"Ah, recruit Lawrence, hiding in a cave isn't much good~"

One of Hanami's DRAGOONs zoomed off into a cave. The entrance flashed green once.

"Recruit Lawrence, out!"

"Is… this really alright? They're getting creamed out there," Shaena muttered.

"Give me a minute," Sal requested as he laid his unit out with his sniper rifle resting on a bipod. "Alright, I'm set up, you guys want to engage now?"

"I guess so," Tali nodded with a sigh as she prepared for a small rifle underbarrel attachment to her beam shotgun. "No guts no glory, right?"

"I think this is a bad idea but it's not like we've got any other ideas, eh?" Shaena whispered, squeezing off a beam at the customized Chaos in the distance.

Hanami simply descended out of the path of the beam and fired back with a DRAGOON. "A challenger has appeared? Ufufufufu~"

"We are screwed," Shaena groaned, sidestepping out of the way.

"Well… I don't want to go out screaming like a bosh'tet, so… let's do this!" Tali shouted as she fired her underbarrel rifle at the DRAGOON units.

"Hey, we gonna let that Quarian call us bosh'tets?"

"Fucking hell no! I have no idea what a bosh'tet is but I don't like how she used it!"

The surviving recruits began to rally as they grouped up and began concentrating fire on the white and pink customized Chaos. Hanami was forced to break off her approach on the Quarians and Sal as the assorted projectiles and beams bracketed her and she even had to intercept a beam using a beam fired from one of her DRAGOONs. "Ufufufu~"

"Come on, Shaena!" Tali shouted as she switched back to the shotgun as she began charging the Skystrike Chaos. "We've got a job to do!"

"Don't get too close or else you'll get caught in friendly fire!" Shaena joined in, firing from the mid-range even as her left hand furiously played across her keyboard. "Keelah, I can't hack through!"

"My husband is one of the best hackers in Fenrir, I've picked up more than a few tricks from him," Hanami smiled. "Nice try though."

"Well, that option is out," Tali grunted as she ceased her own hacking attempts. "And ganging up and shooting doesn't seem to be working very well…"

"No, no, despite how it looks I actually do have my hands full trying to dodge and return fire all at once," Hanami almost casually replied, swerving her Skystrike Chaos between a pair of beams and devoting all her DRAGOONs to countering the incoming beams, only being able to fire off the occasional multi-phase beam at one of the Jotnars, and that particular weapon was far too obvious to notice when it was pointing your way. "But recruits, aren't you forgetting something…?"

"... and that is?" Tali questioned warily.

Several beams lanced out from behind one of the groups of recruits, revealing that a bunch of mass-produced Windam mobile suits had made their appearance on the battlefield. "I'm not the only one you have to fight," Hanami announced.

"Shit," Sal grunted in response.

"Fuck me up the ass…" a random fellow trainee groaned.

Tali's mind raced as she quickly looked over the remaining units in the IFF listing. "Alright… Squads 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9, you guys handle the Windams," Tali announced quickly, listing off the squads who had lost members during their skirmish with Hanami. "The rest of us will engage Instructor Hanami and keep her off your backs."

"Wait, leave the nearest squad of Windams to me…" Shaena frowned as she withdrew and took her hands off the controls fully to focus on the keyboard. "I got an idea."

"Wait… are you going to…?" Sal trailed off with a surprised look.

A short while later the red blips on the radar indicating the nearest Windam squad turned green. "Got them!" Shaena let out a cry of elation as the beams stopped flying at them and instead at the ducking and diving Chaos in the distance.

"Well… that helps," Tali commented dryly. "Alright guys, let's surround Instructor Hanami and keep on the pressure from range!"

"Not bad, not bad, I give that idea 4 out of 5 stars!" Hanami smiled. "I can see I'll have to watch out for unit 5 in particular… hey recruit Rodriguez, you're a little isolated from your squad~"

The DRAGOONs broke off from their interception duty and docked back onto the Chaos, before firing at the isolated Jotnar from their docked positions.

"GUAAAAH!"

"Recruit Rodriguez, down! Squad 8 has only one man left!"

"Keep her attention!" Tali shouted as she moved into closer range to fire her beam shotgun. "Sal, you ready yet?"

"I'm ready," Sal assured as he made a minute adjustment. "Beginning fire support." His announcement was followed by a shot from his rifle, aiming for the leftmost DRAGOON unit.

Just before it would have hit, that particular DRAGOON launched out of harm's way. "For the record… I'm a Newtype," Hanami revealed. "Multitasking with DRAGOONs is natural for me, what more to say keeping track of all units on the battlefield at once?"

Sal clicked his tongue as he continued to fire on the DRAGOON units. "There are limits," he told his squad. "It creates mental stress to continue with it at such a high level, we just need to wear her down."

"By the way… recruit Sal… Are you sure you want to snipe from a stationary position?" a floating Noh mask appeared in the sky, staring right at Sal.

Sal swallowed tightly in response at the staring mask but continued to fire. "Well, I have trust in my squadmates in keeping me safe," he said through gritted teeth as he bolted down on the fear response associated with the mask..

"That may be true… but I'm a DRAGOON user," the mask smiled. There were only three DRAGOONs engaging the Quarians. The fourth one was missing.

Sal's unit rolled as a beam shot from the mask as his unit's left hand pulled out a beam pistol to shoot at the mask several times.

The missing DRAGOON moved out from behind the mask as it fizzled into smoke, continuing to engage Sal even as the Skystrike Chaos swept past the Quarian-piloted Jotnars heading straight towards the sniper using its superior speed. The remaining three DRAGOONs were keeping them busy in the meantime.

"Shit," Tali cursed as she tried to disengage from the DRAGOON units to assist their ally. "Sal, try to hold out!"

* * *

Outside the simulator, one of the techs was frantically trying to analyze the Noh masks appearing on the battlefield. "How is she doing that? We don't have any data for those… things in the system, she's not supposed to be able to materialize them!"

"Just ignore it," Jinn brushed it off as he watched Sal dodge the shots being fired at him. "Hanami seems to have it out for him."

"Hmmmm, he's currently causing onee-chan the most trouble after all," Fubuki mused from beside him. The younger Yukikaze had finished her own session with the regular soldiers and had come to watch the pilot training. "He's the most accurate sniper in the simulator."

Jinn nodded in agreement. "Hmm, going to have him run through a Newtype simulator later," he said after a moment of thought. "He is managing to dodge Hanami and her DRAGOON fairly while while shooting with surprising accuracy."

"And that Quarian actually managed to take control of the Windam AIs too," Fubuki's attention shifted to the Jotnar ducking and diving in the air, sounding a little impressed. "And we worked on the firewall for those things…"

"Very skilled indeed," Jinn looked at his notes carefully. "They've already passed by this point as a squad," he commented idly. "Going to recommend customized units for them. I think they've earned the position in the MS Pilot corps."

"It'll just take more experience before they can beat onee-chan though," Fubuki remarked, watching as Shaena's Jotnar lost an arm.

"They were never meant to win," Jinn countered with a shrug. "Hanami is a battle tested and trained ace pilot veteran, even in a somewhat unfamiliar unit she wouldn't lose to a bunch of rookie pilots."

"So what are you going to tell the recruits that got trampled over later?" Fubuki chuckled, watching as Sal's Jotnar had a leg shot off.

"That they will continue training to become an MS Corps until they either succeed or quit," Jinn replied simply. "Bad luck happens in battle, and if you can walk away, then you are truly fortunate, it means you will be more prepared the next time you deploy."

"You know…" Fubuki mused, watching her sister going wild on the screen. "Can I do the next round? That looks like fun."

Jinn nodded. "Sure, the next batch are scheduled for next week," he informed with a small grin. "What should I put down for your unit?"

"The Ariete Fortezza," Fubuki's eyes gleamed for a moment.

Jinn's eyebrow rose for a moment. "Very well, the schematics will be loaded," he confirmed, his eyes flashing up to the screen briefly as Tali was removed from the fight from a DRAGOON shot from behind. "Just don't completely crush their spirits."

"Recruit Zorah, down!"

"Of course, but it might motivate them to get better seeing the Positron Mass Deflector in operation," Fubuki chuckled ominously. "See all the high tech gadgetry they can load on if they can get good enough to be granted custom units."

Jinn chuckled a bit. "Perhaps," he agreed. "Looks like Hanami is wrapping up now," he commented as he looked back at the screen as Hanami finished off both Sal and Shaena. "Alright, got what I needed anyways."

"Recruits Vollick and Munar down! The simulation is over!"

The recruits were grumbling as their simulation cockpits opened up to allow them to exit them and stand at attention. "Alright, all said and done, well done Recruits," Jinn announced as he stepped out in front of them. "You faced down a veteran Ace pilot and lived to tell the tale. Now, before we get started on your assessments, let me say this, you were not meant to succeed in this, you weren't given a true objective to complete, there was no specific target to destroy, as a result there was no real feasible way for you to attain victory."

The recruits stirred at his words, murmurs rising up slightly before they calmed themselves to allow him to continue. "Shit happens," Jinn said when they calmed. "One minute you could be facing off against a complete rookie and the next you are under attack by an ace squadron, not everything will always be in your favor. So, taking that into consideration, several of you are up for a full promotion into the MS Corps."

Excited murmurs swept the recruits again as they shared eager looked with one another. "Squad 5, you are promoted," Jinn announced getting gasps of surprise from the mixed species squad. "Recruits Zorah and Munar, congratulations on being the first Fenrir certified Quarian MS Operators," Jinn nodded to the pair in acknowledgement. "Squad 7, you are promoted…" he continued to list them off.

"Holy crap… we actually did it," Tali breathed in shock as she stared, slack jawed, ahead.

"Am I dreaming?" Shaena muttered blankly.

"Nope," Sal breathed as he shook his head in amazement. "Damn… it actually happened, I'm in shock right now."

"We still have a long way to go though," Shaena sighed, clenching her fists. "We were taken out so easily just now."

Tali nodded in agreement. "Guess this is just the start then, huh?" she said, sounding a bit glum at the revelation.

"True, but at least for tonight we can celebrate," Sal pointed out with a grin on his face. "We are getting completely sloshed and making lifelong regretful decisions tonight."

"Ah, we'll have to pass on the alcohol though," Shaena hurriedly shook her head. "Not that we can eat any of your food anyway, but even the alcohol we can drink is enough to make us sick for days."

"Really? You're not going to get completely hammered with me to celebrate us being promoted past recruit?" Sal questioned with pleading eyes. "Come on, you only live once!"

Shaena sighed resignedly. "Tali, do we have any dextro alcohol?"

"Actually… we do," Tali confirmed with a nod. "My father had sent over a bottle when I was accepted into MS Corps training for when I graduated, triple filtered and decontaminated as well."

"Oh, then we are definitely getting hammered tonight," Shaena's grin could be felt through her mask. "I can't wait to get the chance to go through gene therapy."

"Speaking of," Jinn's voice cut into their conversation with good humor. "We are looking for volunteers for it starting next week," he looked at the two of them. "The Commanders Hisanagas pulled some strings to get you two onto the shortlist if you are interested in it."

Tali blinked from behind her mask as she turned to Shaena whose body language was showing the same shock she felt. "Speaking for myself, sir, I am willing to undergo it," she announced quickly.

"Me too!" Shaena grinned happily.

"Very well, I'll send word for it," Jinn informed, making a note. "For those of you who have been promoted, you have a month off," he continued. "You are free to spend this time as you wish, however, inform us if you are leaving the station, that is all, dismissed."

The crowd of recruits dismissed, most of them heading for the local bar, to either lament their failure, or to celebrate their success.

* * *

 **END CHAPTER**


	5. Chapter 4: Tragedy at Shanxi

**Disclaimer** : None of us own Gundam SEED or Mass Effect

 **Chapter Four: Tragedy at Shanxi**

 **Three Years after Quarians joined the Sol Council, 2179 CE**

* * *

A pair of glowing blue eyes carefully read through the assorted reports being displayed to him on the haptic interface, behind that a series of display panels showing the red supergiant sun that the station was set up beside in order to hide from any possible system probes.

" _There are two hundred more confirmed births of Biotics in this last year,_ " the station's VI informed in a toneless voice. " _This number is expected to rise in the coming years should we continue with the Eezo exposure operations._ "

The man sitting in a rather comfortable chair nodded slightly in response, lifting a cigar to his mouth to take a slow drag of it as his other hand swirled a tumbler of whiskey. "Inform the team of Project Progeny that I am increasing their budget by ten percent," the man said in a controlled voice as the smoke from the cigar drifted out of his mouth. "What is the survival rate of the biotic children during birth?"

" _With Fenrir's assistance in developing genetic therapy, 99 percent of the children survived birth,_ " the VI reported.

198 out of 200 children, an acceptable number. "Mark the poorer families," he instructed. "When the children are born have our contact teams approach them about funding their education and biotic training."

" _Affirmative._ "

He took a sip of whiskey as he continued to read through the reports streaming across his screen. "Also, inform the team assigned to Operation: Gatecrasher that they are to begin," he announced calmly. "I believe the Sol Council is ready for First Contact and we need the Shanxi Prime Relay active for our own operations."

" _Affirmative._ "

He nodded his head in response. With the inclusion of Quarians in the Sol Council their understanding of not only Mass Effect technology but of the other species had expanded by leaps and bounds with their aid. He had to admit it was a brilliant move on the Sol Council's part to have them become members. Not only were they thankful for the _working_ gene therapy that allowed them to take off their suits, but the fact that they were also given a voice in the Council's policies, but in the end, they will follow the council's lead because of their perceived debt to humanity.

Then there were the rescued civilians from the Batarian ships, a handful of Turians and Salarians and a good amount of Asari, all granted citizenship until the Sol Council made contact with the Citadel Council, at which point they would be free to return to their homes if they wished.

It was time for the Sol Council to announce its presence to the rest of the galaxy, after all, the Reapers were approaching, and they needed the other species to absorb some damage for them so that they could end the threat once and for all.

* * *

"Second Gottfried, _fire!_ " the captain of the Shanxi Patrol vessel _Bloodhound_ shouted as the weapons operator followed through on the command, firing on a small vessel that was trying to escape the three ships that were chasing it.

"The target is sending out a signal!" the comms officer shouted. "They're activating the Relay!"

"What!" the captain shouted as she tried to bite back a curse. "Send a message to the home fleet! Get word out to the council!"

"Yes captain!" the comms officer called back.

"Captain! The Relay is now active!" the sensor operator called out. "They're making their approach!"

The captain growled as he thought rapidly on what to do. "Cancel pursuit!" he shouted out. "Call up for reinforcements and set up a cordon around the Relay!"

"Yes captain!" the crew called out as orders began to be relayed.

* * *

Things had been quiet during his patrol around Relay 314, one Captain Devas Torid, considered as he looked over the crew reports for his vessel, the _Spirit of Magna_. A minor scuffle with a Salarian-run scavenger vessel that was getting too close to the inactive relay, but they turned tail when the Turian Patrol fleet announced their presence.

"Captain!" his sensor officer called out in alarm, making him twitch in irritation from the rather… undisciplined shout. "The Relay is activating!"

Oh… that changes things.

"Warm up the weapons, have the other ships prepare for combat," Devas snapped out quickly. "As soon as the ship has transferred through, destroy it."

There was a bit of hesitation from the rest of the crew as they looked at one another before they began to follow his orders. Which Devas nodded in approval, after all, whoever was coming through was breaking council law by activating a Relay.

And if it was a new species… well… they will quickly learn their place in the galaxy, under the Turians' might.

The crews of the three vessels waited with baited breath as the message was sent away to the Admiral of the full patrol fleet, requesting reinforcements and alerting him of the situation as they stared at the now active Relay before a small vessel came out on the other side.

"Fire," Devas informed, a grin on his face.

There was only a moment of hesitation before the _Spirit of Magna'_ s main cannon shuddered as it propelled a slug at a fraction of the speed of light, slamming into the vessel completely destroying it as the round pierce through the hull and almost completely destroyed the reactor, resulting in a chain explosion.

"Vessel has been destroyed," the weapons officer announced after the cloud of dust dissipated. "No life signs detected."

"Good, hail the _Vengeance of Digeris_ ," Devas ordered. "We're going through the Relay, the _Hope of Nyx_ is to remain on guard until our return, or the fleet's arrival."

The comm officer looked over to him in surprise, looked like he was about to speak up before closing his mouth and following his orders, like a good Turian Soldier does.

Devas nodded in approval before turning back to the Relay, he could _smell_ his upcoming promotion now after bringing a new species to heel.

* * *

"Captain, the relay's activating again! Something else is coming through!"

"All stations, maintain Level 2 battle stations," the captain called out calmly. "Prepare the First Contact message to be sent once they're through, don't have the weapons warmed up until my signal."

The very next instant, a ship resembling a winged brick with a large opening in its bow characteristic of ships equipped with mass effect weaponry jumped out right beside the relay. It was approximately as big as the standard Sol Council warships, only stretched longer to accommodate its spinal mass accelerator. Several other ships of similar design jumped out soon afterwards.

"First contact message has been sent," the comm officer announced.

"Weapons build up detected!" the sensor operator shouted in a panic. "They're targeting us!"

"EVADE!" the captain roared quickly. "Send an emergency message to Shanxi! We must give them time to prepare their defenses! Launch all mobile suits! Activate the kinetic barriers!"

"Enemy ships are firing!" the sensor operator announced shortly after a blue shimmering barrier snapped to life around the three ships.

"Shields at 50% and holding!"

"The _Morpheus_ has taken a hit to the engine! It's still intact, but lost all mobility!"

" _Independence_ reports minor damage to their hull! Their mobile suit catapult is damaged!"

"Warm up our weapons," the captain announced. "We are holding our ground, we cannot allow them to get past us."

The crew didn't argue or protest as they set on their tasks and started getting ready for their final stand.

* * *

"Those ships are of a make I have never seen before," Devas mused thoughtfully, staring at the screens showing the sights of the strange ships, which were starting to launch fighter craft and fire beams of energy at them. "Those aren't mass accelerators, yet they are equipped with kinetic barriers. And they are firing energy-based weapons at us… at a range where normal GARDIAN lasers would be completely ineffective."

"Captain, we're getting strange reading from their fighter craft," the sensor operator reported. "Thermal imaging is showing something… odd with their profile."

"Let me see," Devas brought up the readout on his own screen. "Humanoid fighter craft?"

"This can't be right," the sensor operator replied, scratching his fringe. "Something like this isn't possible with our technology…"

"No matter, all we have to do is destroy them anyway," Devas grinned. "Prepare the GARDIAN lasers. They're still fighters in the end so standard anti-fighter tactics will be effective."

"Yessir!" the weapons officer replied quickly.

"Sir, our fighters will make contact with enemy fighters in five seconds!" the sensor officer reported. "Contact! Spirits! The enemy fighters are equipped with energy based weapons as well, they just tore right through the First Phalanx' shield like they weren't even there!"

"What!?" Devas sat upright in his seat in surprise. "Then our kinetic barriers can't stop them if they get close! Full astern, concentrate mass accelerator fire on the fighters! Do not let them close into weapons range at any cost!"

"Confirmed, full astern!" the helmsman confirmed as he followed the commands.

"Sir! Two enemy ships are moving in behind their fighters! They're firing on the fleet! Incoming Energy weapons!"

"Hard to port, evade!" Devas barked out another order. "Keep targeting the fighters with the main gun! Even if it doesn't hit, we'll keep them away! What kind of race are we up against?"

"Sir, they appear to call themselves humans," the comms officer announced. "They had sent a first contact package as soon as we had come through!"

"Either way, they still broke council law by activating this Relay! There shall be no negotiations!" Devas slammed his fist on his chair's arm. "Send a message to the patrol fleet, tell them that we are under heavy fire and requesting support!"

"Message away, sir!" the comms officer informed.

"Sir! Two enemy fighters have broken through our defensive screen!" the sensor officer shouted. "Profile shows them carrying larger weapons than the other fighters! They're heading directly for us!"

"GARDIANS! NOW!" Devas roared.

The array of lasers lit up in an attempt to counter the two fighters only for the pair of them to bring up a pair of physical shields to block the beams. "Negative damage on the enemy fighters!" the weapons officer shouted. "Their aiming for us, targeting the bridge!"

"Impossible…" the Turian captain breathed his last before a green burst of energy tore through the hull, burning right through the ablative armour layer and lanced through the bridge. The beam lost its energy only after reaching the center of the ship, where the main reactor was.

* * *

"I never thought I'd see the Turians being so one-sidedly destroyed like this," one of the Quarian operators on the bridge thought out loud in awe, watching one of the Turian cruisers break apart from explosions tearing through its center.

"This is only the beginning," the captain announced with a frown as he assessed the situation. With the fall of what seemed to be the flagship, the enemy ships were starting to rout as more mobile suits broke away from the enemy fighters. "What's our status?"

"We've lost a quarter of our mobile suit compliment," his second informed. "Our kinetic barrier emitters were damaged and we can't produce more than 37% for our barriers as a result. The _Independence_ has lost their second Gottfried and the _Morpheus_ ' engines are down, we cannot repair them without a drydock."

"We should have raised the kinetic barriers earlier," the Quarian sighed, turning back to his station.

"We can't do anything about that now," the captain replied. "All we can do now is delay the enemy as long as we can for Shanxi."

"Captain, the Relay is starting up again," the sensors officer announced grimly. "It's looking like a mass transit of enemy forces."

The captain nodded his acceptance. "All forces are to prepare their self-destruct modules and prime their engines for self destruction," he announced, as he inputted a code into his chair control panel. "Destroy the remains of any of our downed forces, we cannot allow the enemy to gain any more intel on our capabilities."

The sole Quarian on the bridge let out a low chuckle. "Well, I can't ask for a better sight to take to my grave," he said as an entire fleet of Turian ships emerged from the relay.

"All forces, fire at will!" the captain shouted over the FLEETCOM. "Don't let them past us without paying in blood for every inch!"

* * *

Ryu sighed as he looked through the training report for their newest batch of recruits, making notes of where they should send the assorted graduates.

He raised an eyebrow as Sentry appeared next to him. "Sir, urgent comm from Shanxi," he announced. "Code Black emergency."

"What's happen?" Ryu questioned immediately as he sat up in attention.

"A terrorist that the Shanxi patrol fleet was pursuing fled through the Mass Relay after activating it, shortly after Turian ships came through and opened fire on the pursuing vessels," Sentry reported grimly. "They repulsed the initial attack, but the primary fleet came through shortly after, they are making their way to Shanxi as we speak."

"Prepare the Home and Away fleets," Ryu announced. "Notify all personnel, Fenrir in mobilizing en masse."

"Yessir," Sentry nodded before winking out.

Ryu let out a sigh as he rubbed his forehead. "Damn trigger happy idiots," he cursed angrily before standing up and headed for the door.

The door opened before he even got there as Kira appeared, grim faced as she met Ryu's gaze. "So, it's time then, huh?" she commented. "Are the units ready?"

"They are," Ryu confirmed with a nod. "Shame this is happening…"

"Indeed," Kira sighed in agreement. "We need to put an end to this as soon as possible, the Sol Council is preparing to deploy en masse as well."

"How long will it take for us to be ready for deployment?" Ryu questioned as the pair began to walk through the facility.

"Ten hours at a minimum," Kira replied with a grimace. "Shanxi is going to have to hold out for at least half a day before reinforcements arrive."

"They will," Ryu assured. "The Council makes sure that the outer reaches gets the best equipment first to make sure that their defenses are up to date."

Kira nodded in agreement. "Still, we best hurry," she commented grimly. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

Ryu frowned in response but nodded his understanding. "Alright, we'll hurry as best as we can, but we can't rush this too much, or we'll pay for it when we engaged the Turians," he pointed out.

"I know," Kira sighed as she hugged herself. "Let's go and get things ready," she suggested, getting a nod of agreement from her husband.

* * *

"How long has it been since I last sat in a cockpit in an active firefight?" Hanami wondered as she strode through the corridors of the ship to the ready room together with Jinn.

"The last time was against the Batarians," Jinn noted as he looked through the incoming reports from Shanxi. "And it's an actual fleet this time with top of the line military equipment. Shanxi already lost five ships, not including the ones that were lost at the Relay."

"And we're just one small mercenary company diving into the fray here," Hanami sighed. "I hope the Sol Council main fleet gets there fast. Aces or not, we'd be hard pressed against an entire fleet."

Jinn nodded in agreement. "On the upside, we're only going to be an hour ahead of them, and they'll be bringing both of their _Diligence_ -classes when they arrive, and with our own, those'll cause a lot of damage to the enemy fleet," he commented with a small frown. "Not to mention we're taking _everyone_ in."

"It's been a while since we've all sortied together at once too," the silverette had a wry smile on her face. "Last time was… what, during that final battle against Zala?"

Jinn nodded in confirmation. "Indeed, hopefully the Turians don't have a massive death laser like Zala did," he joked dryly.

"If anything they have giant railguns instead," Hanami pointed out. "Which won't do a thing to PS armour…"

"Except transfer their kinetic energy to the pilot," Jinn replied.

"We got the kinetic dampeners installed in the cockpits for a reason, right?" she responded. "Let's milk our technological advantage as much as we can before they catch on to it."

Jinn smirked at her in response. "Indeed," he agreed as they came up to the ready room and entered to see the rest of the mobile suit pilots assembled already in their pilot suits. "Are we late?"

"Nah, just in time," Ryu assured with a small wave. "Sorry to call you back on duty, Hanami."

"It's quite alright, Ryu-san," Hanami smiled. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the action a little. And with Jinn-koi launching too, I have a role to support him as his wife."

Ryu smiled a little in response as he accepted her words. "Alright, we're still five hours out from launching, then at least one hour for transit," he informed seriously. "Our plan is simple, we drive off any Turian forces and push them past the Relay, if necessary we will push the relay out of position and cordon it off."

"To think our second encounter with another race would go pear-shaped like this…" Fubuki sighed from where she was standing between Dearka and Stella.

"Unfortunately, doesn't look like it'll be as simple either," Dearka sighed as he leaned against the wall. "Heard the Turians were trigger happy, but this is ridiculous."

"So, can the only people here who have actually met one before enlighten us as to how they're like? What kind of tactics they use?" Mir turned towards the two Quarians in the room, the only ones thus far to have passed their stringent pilot testing.

Tali and Shaena looked at each other. "Well… not too much to be honest," Shaena replied with a shrug. "They're rather regimental, take pride in military tradition. They're also a militaristic state so everyone serves at least a few years in the military."

"Then that means they might be a little inflexible at times," Hanami mused. "Strong chain of command… hey Jinn, we recently got an anti-Citadel electronic warfare package installed in the Viral, right?"

Jinn nodded. "It's ready to go, also slipped in a few viruses into the package to make it harder than usual for them to counter it," he informed with a nod.

"Scary," Tolle muttered. "Electronic warfare is scary."

Jinn smirked a bit in response. "You would be surprised on how many people keep their personal information on their duty consoles… _Tolle_ ," he informed with a deep chuckle.

Tolle flinched. "Oi, keep your grubby virtual hands off my console!" he squawked indignantly. "What kind of friend hacks their own friend's console!?"

"Whoever said I hacked your console?" Jinn questioned with a teasing smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Tolle sputtered for several moments as chuckles filled the room.

"You're too easy to read, Tolle…" Mir elbowed her husband.

Kira chuckled a bit with the rest of the crew. "Alright everyone, stand by on your respective ships," she announced. "New recruits, you've been assigned to the _Havok_ for this battle and your units have been already loaded up."

"Don't die out there," Hanami told the recruits with her trademarked smile of doom. "Do that and I'll drag you back from the gates of hell to give you a good scolding, ufufu~"

The entire room sans, Jinn, Ryu and Kira shuddered fearfully at the sight of her smile of doom. "Talk about motivation," Ryu murmured to his wife who giggled a bit in response.

"Alright everyone, you're dismissed, go to your ships, and get some rest while you can," Kira announced, humour in her voice. "Good luck, and stay safe."

Low murmuring began as the pilots began to move, talking amongst themselves in low voices. Tali and her squad quickly regrouped on their way to the hangar to board their transports.

"Our first deployment and we're going up against the Turians," Tali murmured as they walked. "Not sure how I feel about that..."

"Tell me about it. Never in my life did I expect to be shooting at Turian fleets," Shaena grinned. "But after the way they treated us before, I'm not too inclined to complain about being able to return the favor."

"Hence the mixed feelings," Tali sighed. "But this is still the Turians we're talking about, one of the _largest_ military forces in Council Space."

"That _is_ pretty intimidating," Sal nodded in agreement.

"We still won't be going up against their main war fleets unless they call for reinforcements from that high up," Shaena assured. "Which… might actually happen if the fight drags on…"

"Just means we need to push them back quickly," Sal pointed out. "And wouldn't the deployment as large as you're talking about raise some questions?"

"It'd probably require Council intervention to stop them at that point," Shaena frowned. "They really don't like losing, especially against who they perceive as inferior races."

"Then we're just going to have to show them we _aren't_ inferior like they seem to believe," Tali commented with a frown.

* * *

"What are we looking at?" the admiral for the Fourth Fleet of the Turian armada questioned as he stood at his station on the bridge of his flagship, the _Hammer of Palaven_ , as the fleet began to secure the area around the Mass Relay after the short skirmish with the three enemy ships.

"Sir, our opponents were a hitherto unknown race, there is very little we can tell other than that they possess mass effect tech and strange indigenous energy-based weapons with extremely high output and humanoid fighter craft," one of his bridge officers reported, studying the readouts on his terminals. "We have attempted to salvage their equipment for analysis, but there are no usable remnants. It seems they implemented a dead man's switch type self destruct system to prevent us from gaining any usable data."

The admiral frowned as he tapped a talon on the console before him. "Disappointing," he announced calmly. "But, we can get more information once we subjugate this species. What are the long range scanners telling us about their planet?"

"It seems to be in an early stage of colonization, however there appears to be a large orbital structure completed at the planet's L4 Lagrange point," the sensor operator reported. "We cannot identify its exact purpose."

"A military structure," the admiral declared, not even bothering to double check the readings. "Mark it as a priority target along with any land based installations. How about ships, how many are we looking at?"

"We are looking at a fleet of 15 strong, one of which is larger than any dreadnought we've ever seen. The others appear to be cruisers. The cruisers are of similar make to the three ships we only just destroyed, and do not appear to feature axial mass accelerators. There are 6 frigates returning towards the planet from patrols around the system."

"I see…" the admiral took the information in quickly. "Our priority is to take out their dreadnought, once we take it out their fleet will be crippled and we can begin landing troops on the surface while we pick of the remaining ships."

"Sir! There is a large amount of humanoid fighters launching from the enemy dreadnought!" the sensor operator suddenly reported. "I'm seeing one hundred… two hundred… three hundred… four hundred!"

"Wait, from the dreadnought?" the admiral questioned as he pulled up the camera. "That's not a dreadnought… that's a specialized _carrier!_ Scramble our interceptors! In the meantime have our cruisers fire a sustained barrage to shoot as many of their fighters out of the sky as possible! Frigates to the front in an echelon formation to screen us from the fighters! From the appearance of their fighters they won't be nimble enough to dodge them!"

"Yes sir!" the bridge crew saluted as they quickly got to their work.

* * *

" _This is Noble-Two! Primary thruster are shot!_ "

" _Eagle Five! Reactor breach, I'm ejecting!_ "

"All undamaged wings continue your course toward enemy fleet," Fleet Admiral James Henderson announced calmly from the bridge of the _Gondwana-class_ carrier ship _Endymion_. "Any damaged mobile suits are to retrieve any ejected pilots and rejoin the fleet. Frigates, advance behind the mobile suit screen and prepare all weapons to fire on my command."

"Enemy fleet is sending their frigates forward," the sensor operator reported. "Intel says they're equipped with large amounts of GARDIAN lasers."

"Enemy is launching interceptors too," another operator added. "Nearly a hundred of them."

Henderson nodded to show he heard the report. "Artillery based units are to bombard the enemy frigates," he announced calmly. "Our own frigates are to support the remaining mobile suits in countering their mobile armors."

He narrowed his eyes as a part of the enemy fleet broke off. "Send five ships to the PLANT!" he shouted out. "Enemy formation broke away and are making their way to the colony!"

"Enemy dreadnought angling for a shot on us."

"Focusing kinetic barrier on forward arc."

A large slug stopped in mid-space in front of the ship about half a minute later.

James' eyes narrowed as he looked at the slug with a glower. "Prepare firing vectors for the Lohengrins on the _Kusanagi_ and the _Amenonuhoko_ ," he announced calmly. "Target, enemy dreadnought."

"Affirmative," the comms operator nodded as he patched in a comms link to the two Izumo-class battleships in the fleet. " _Kusanagi, Amenonuhoko_ acknowledge. Lohengrins preparing to fire."

Moments later, four multicoloured positron blasts lanced out from either side of the _Endymion_.

"10 seconds to impact. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Minor hit on enemy dreadnought's port wing. 2 enemy cruisers and 7 frigates destroyed."

"Good firing," James announced with a nod. "Cruisers and frigates, move up and engage! Destroyers are to follow in five minutes!"

"Aye sir!" the comms operator confirmed as he began to relay the orders.

* * *

"Status report!" the turian admiral shouted over the alarms blaring in the command deck.

"Damage control, to the port side gun deck."

"Sealing damaged compartments. Port side broadside guns down to 80% strength."

"Port side kinetic barriers are down to 30% strength."

"No casualties reported."

"Sensors, what can you tell me about the weapon?" the admiral questioned, turing to the officer.

"Sir… best way we can describe it… is an antimatter cannon!" the officer replied, his eyes wide.

Low murmuring broke out across the bridge. Thus far the only known use of antimatter was in warship thrusters - none of the Citadel races had managed to weaponize antimatter in a controllable way just yet.

The admiral's eyes narrowed. "That's…" he stopped himself from saying impossible. "Mark the ships that fired the weapons, keep an eye on them and alert the fleet of any indication that they are about to fire again."

"Yes sir."

"Contact lost with the _Aulbius_ , _Larus_ , _Secuus_ , _Florinis_ , _Calponus_ , _Varrius_ , _Velter_ , _Cannion_ , _Posril_. The _Sanrian_ and _Dexitus_ suffered major damage from the attack and are no longer combat-effective. Interceptor squadrons down to 80% strength."

The admiral suppressed an angry growl. "What is the progress of our frigates? How many of their fighters have they taken out?"

"Massed GARDIAN fire is proving effective. Enemy fighters down to 70%."

"Good, tell them to keep the effort up," the admiral said with an approving nod.

"We are only winning because of our numbers," his second in command frowned. "If we were to face them with a fleet half this size, we would be the ones losing."

"Then it is a good thing we have a numerical advantage," the admiral said in a calm voice. "We will crush them underfoot then we can take their technology as our own."

"Enemy craft are all armed with self destruct systems. Retrieval of technology is nigh-impossible," one of the operators reported, watching as a frigate exploded with far more force than the slug that had struck it should have contained.

"Troubling, but we should be able to capture enough personnel on the ground to inform us of what we need," the admiral said with a small shrug. "What is the progress of the detachment towards the military installation?"

"They are engaging the enemy detached force in combat. Casualties are high, but it's only a matter of time until they are destroyed."

"Good, I want that installation destroyed before they can bring it to bear in combat," he instructed firmly. "Who knows what kind of weapons it's loaded with. Has command responded to our request for reinforcements?"

"Sir! They're gathering the Seventh fleet!" the comms operator announced. "They estimate their arrival in 24 hours!"

"Good, I want the enemy fleet elements dealt with by then," the admiral informed. "We will win this day men, just follow your orders."

* * *

"Exiting FTL in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Warp out," Arnold reported from the helm of the Archangel.

"Connect with the local fleet!" Murrue barked out immediately. "All mobile suits are to launch immediately and engage with the enemy forces. Sensors, what's the situation out there?"

"Sol Council fleet has taken heavy damage!" the operator, a recent male Quarian recruit by the name of Dorvin, who now had vas Archangel in his name, reported as he looked through the mass of information pouring in. "The _Endymion_ has taken damage but is holding strong, they are down seven ships and… oh no…"

"Ensign?" Murrue questioned, prompting him.

"The PLANT… it's been destroyed…" Dorvin reported weakly, getting strangled gasps from the bridge crews.

An image popped up on the main monitor, showing the sight of the PLANT, both sides of its hourglass structure completely shattered and the discs on either side broken away with debris scattered everywhere.

Murrue swallowed tightly as closed her eyes briefly. "We have our objective," she announced to the crew with an enforced calm in her voice. "Move us up to the Sol Council fleet, we need to support them and help push the Turians out of this system."

"Yes ma'am," Arnold nodded professionally. "Setting course for the Sol Council fleet."

"Captain, I recommend opening up the engagement with the Lohengrins from long range," Natarle suggested with a tight look.

"Agreed," Murrue nodded in agreement. "Have the _Retribution_ break off with the _Silver Sun, Divergence, Ship Breaker_ and the _Jormungandr_ and join the remaining frigates in their attack runs on the enemy fleet," she continued, naming off all of the _Retribution_ -class ships in the fleet. "Have four cruisers provide escort to protect them from the remaining enemy fighters."

"Roger," Dalida nodded, beginning to relay the orders from his station.

"Lohengrins preparing to fire," Romero reported from the gunnery station.

"Hold fire until my command," Murrue informed. "Have our _Izumo_ -class ships link their targeting with the _Archangel_ and prep their Lohengrins to fire."

"Roger, switching FCS to fleet mode and broadcasting targeting data," Romero replied as the Archangel's 'feet' opened up and its deadly Lohengrin positron blasters rolled out. The other Izumo-class ships off to their sides similarly opened their Lohengrin gun ports and began charging.

"Contacting Sol Council fleet, advising them to clear the line of fire," Dalida added. "Sol Council fleet acknowledges."

Murrue waited for several more beats before she gave the order. "All Lohengrins, _FIRE!_ " she barked out in a cold voice as the _eight_ positron blasters all fired their payloads into the flank of the enemy fleet, cutting a massive swath of destruction as ships began to explode.

"Shots are clean!" Dorvin informed. "Ten enemy ship sunk! Another seven are damaged, we crippled their dreadnought!"

There were no cheers on the bridge - given the total loss of a PLANT and its entire population, no one felt like cheering.

"Prepare another shot while the Retributions close in," Murrue ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

"Oh my god…" Kira breathed in shock as she looked over the images of the warzone.

" _I didn't think… I'd see a repeat of the Bloody Valentine in my lifetime…"_ Hanami said over the comms, sounding horrified.

" _God have mercy on those souls,_ " Dearka breathed solemnly as he prayed. " _Please, take them into your embrace and protect them from further harm…_ "

" _Why… those were just civilians…"_ Fubuki whispered in a shaky tone.

" _Jinn-koi… we're killing them,"_ Hanami declared as palpable killing intent began oozing out of her mobile suit.

" _Agreed,_ " Jinn announced in a cold voice as he impatiently waited to launch. " _That… is just inexcusable._ "

" _Don't get carried away,_ " Ryu said, his voice completely devoid of any emotion. " _If we allow that to happen then we are just as bad as they are._ "

" _We're professionals, Ryu-san, we know,"_ Hanami's voice was equally cold.

" _Keelah, I didn't think the Turians would actually fire on civilians like this…"_ Shaena muttered. _"This… this goes against so many Citadel laws too!"_

"Okay everyone, I need you focus up," Kira announced over all channels. "I know this is a tragedy, but right now is not the time for tears, now is the time for action. Grief can come later."

" _Yes ma'am!"_ came a chorus of replies over the comms.

" _All mobile suits! You are cleared to launch!_ " the comms officer shouted over the mobile suits comm lines.

"Roger that, Kira Hisanaga, Valkyrie Freyr, launching!"

" _Ryu Hisanaga, Assault Vidar, launching!_ "

" _Victor Amsel, Heavy Thor, launching!_ "

" _Hanami Hisanaga, Exodus Century, launching!"_

" _Jinn Hisanaga, Viral Intruder, launching._ "

" _Fubuki Yukikaze, Ariete, launching…"_

" _Stella Hisanaga! Midgard, launching!_ "

" _Dearka Elsman, Barrett, launching!_ "

" _Yzak Joule, Bardiche, launching!_ "

" _Nicole Almalfi, Razor, launching!_ "

" _Banyat Sangsorn, Divine Testament, launching."_

" _Friedrich Gotthard! Regenerate EX! Le's go bash sum alien heads in!"_

" _Cagalli Yula Athha, Freedom, launching!_ "

" _Athrun Zala, Justice, launching!_ "

" _Miriallia Haw, Buster, launching!_ "

" _Tolle Koenig, Duel, launching!_ "

" _Sai Argyll, Aegis, launching!_ "

" _Shinn Asuka, Destiny, launching!_ "

" _Jade Asuka, Exceed II, launching!_ "

" _Flay Asuka, Blitz, launching!_ "

Unique among the takeoff sequences was the Regenerate's, itself being far too massive to carry in a regular hangar and having to be towed by one of the Retribution-class ships in its mobile armour form. The rest all took off from catapult decks normally.

"Break off into your squads," Kira announced. "Friedrich… feel free to do your thing in their fleet, Banyat, make sure he comes back alive… or at least his mobile suit is intact."

" _HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AWESUM!"_ Friedrich roared, the Regenerate zooming off right towards the middle of the Turian fleet.

" _Ma'am, you would saddle me with such a heavy responsibility?"_ Banyat deadpanned in response, the Divine Testament following behind.

"Unfortunately, you're one of the few that has any chance of reining him in," Kira noted. "Besides, he'll be one taking all the shots, you'll be fine."

Indeed, the Regenerate had its warship-class kinetic barriers running at full power already and was soaking up hits from the Turian cruisers' mass accelerators with no problems at all. In the meantime, it switched back to its mobile suit form and formed a giant beam sword with one hand and cleaved a frigate in half.

" _DIE, ALIEN! HAHAHAHAHA!"_

" _He hasn't changed one bit,"_ Hanami observed with a grimace, swinging a pair of Agni III beam cannons over her Exodus' shoulders and bracing with her thrusters as the twin multicoloured beams tore into a cruiser.

" _At least we can point him at a target,_ " Ryu commented as his sniper rifle pierced through the bridge of a weakened frigate. " _And…_ mostly _control him._ "

* * *

"Critical damage to the main engines! We're immobilized!"

"Damage control, to the main shaft! Don't let the fire spread to the drive core!"

"Main gun critically damaged!"

"Enemy fleet to our port side is preparing another antimatter blast!"

"Emergency evade!" the admiral barked out. "Where did that fleet come from!?"

"They came from a wormhole, sir!" one of the operators reported. "That wasn't standard FTL!"

"You expect me to believe that some backwater species uses _wormholes_ as FTL when the Council hasn't even managed an _attempt_ at it?" the admiral replied with a glare. "Get me a _real_ answer!"

"S-Sir! That _was_ the real answer! We detected odd spatial distortions mere moments before they appeared!"

The Admiral stared at the officer for several moments before he turned back to the screen just in time to see some kind of four 'armed' ship crash into a cruiser before a beam ripped through the ship as the _monstrosity_ wasn't even damaged by the explosion. "This… can't be possible," he whispered in shock. "This… these… these are just a backwater species…"

"Have the rest of the fleet retreat through the relay, we must get this information back to the Citadel at all costs!" the vice captain ordered. "Admiral, we must get to the escape pods. This ship is no longer combat worthy."

The Admiral took in a careful breath before standing straight. "No, I will not abandon my ship," he announced as he sounded the evacuation alarms. "All hands, abandon ship. I will be going down with the _Wrath of Palaven_."

"Admiral, with all due respect, you would be more valuable as one with firsthand experience of how this race we have made enemies of fight," the vice captain declared. "Too valuable to go down with the ship."

"No, I engaged the enemy forces without properly ascertaining the situation after one of the men in _my_ command started this war," he replied in a calm voice. "At best, I will be imprisoned for life, no, I will go down with my ship as is proper."

"Admiral…" the vice captain was left speechless, before he snapped out a salute. "It has been an honour serving under your command," he declared and headed for the escape pods together with the rest of the bridge crew.

The Admiral took in a deep breath as he looked out the viewscreen his face grim as he prepared for his final moments before he brought up the controls for the ship and used what limited maneuverability it had left to rotate the dreadnought to bring the remaining undamaged starboard broadside guns to bear.

* * *

" _They're trying to escape through the relay!"_ Mir pointed out angrily from the cockpit of the Buster.

"They're retreating?" Kira noted with a raised eyebrow.

" _The dreadnought's launching escape pods, should we pursue?"_ Sai asked. _"Actually, it's still trying to bring its other broadside to bear on us."_

"Ignore the escape pods," Kira ordered firmly. "We are not barbarians, we will pick up and hold any that are not picked up by the Turian forces. Finish the dreadnought off."

" _Understood,_ " came the reply as Dearka took aim with the dual Positron Blasters on the subflier on his Barrett Gundam before firing, completely obliterating the bridge of the dreadnought, leaving it to simply drift.

" _Good shooting,_ " Ryu said firmly as he watched the retreating forces warily.

" _This is the_ Endymion's _captain, Fleet Admiral James Henderson. I am grateful for Fenrir's assistance, but I would like to further request for you to try and capture at least one POW if at all possible. It would go far in negotiating with the Turians in the future… though I don't think they'll come back after us so soon after we kicked their asses."_

"Of course, Admiral," Kira replied with a nod. "And Fenrir will stand ready to assist in any way we can."

" _Ma'am, we're picking up a signal from the Sol Council fleet, they're one hour out with reinforcements,_ " Murrue reported over the radio. " _Orders?_ "

"Clean up operations," Kira ordered. "We want live captives so have tranq and stunner equipped marines on security detail."

" _Understood, relaying orders now,_ " Murrue replied with a nod.

" _I want to shoot them some more to repay them for the PLANT they blew up…"_ Hanami growled. _"I shot them nowhere near enough before they started running."_

"I understand your anger," Kira replied knowingly. "But… I am picking up distress signals near the PLANT's debris, we have rescue operations to get underway."

" _DEY RUNNIN ALREADY!? BORING!"_

" _Roger, I'll head over to the PLANT now,"_ Nicole said, the Razor flying off towards the ruined colony.

" _Another Bloody Valentine…"_ Yzak growled, slamming his fist on his control panel. _"Damn it!"_

" _Looks like we can't avoid contact with the Citadel any longer,_ " Ryu noted in a soft voice over a private link with Kira.

"Yeah…" Kira nodded as she closed her eyes briefly. "Once we're finished with the rescue and clean up operations, I want you to get the _Ghost_ ready with Lacus. You're going to take them to the Serpent Nebula and lay in wait if the Turians decide to continue this stupid war. If they do, announce your presence to the Citadel Council and explain what's going on."

" _Alright,_ " Ryu nodded his understanding. " _I'll make sure they understand what happened here._ "

"I know the two of you will," Kira assured, smiling softly. "Thank you, Ryu."

* * *

" _What's the casualty report?"_ Siegel Clyne asked gravely.

"1,250,000 civilians at out worst estimate," James said in a soft voice, not looking up at the vidscreens of the rest of the Sol Council. "50,000 soldiers were lost in combat."

The other members of the Sol Council were silent for several long seconds.

" _What should we do?_ " Rondo questioned. " _Fenrir has their Slipspace Drives that allow them to move to places outside of the Relay network, or even ignore it entirely. And they_ are _able to bring our ships along with them, should we strike back at the Turians? Their homeworld perhaps?_ "

" _No, that would incur the fury of the Citadel races and bring their whole might down on us,"_ Shala'Ran shook her head. _"While this battle has proven our technological superiority against the Citadel races such that it takes a vast numerical superiority to beat us, we would also take heavy damage in an all-out war against them all."_

" _We should send an envoy to the Citadel Council before the Turians work up enough forces to strike again,_ " Gordon said as he frowned a bit. " _I have no doubt that they would try to cover this up. Or try to paint us as the aggressors to get the rest of the Citadel to join them._ "

" _Then we'll get our envoy to the Citadel first before the Turians can return,"_ Michelle decided. _"Fleet Admiral James Henderson, given the pressing circumstances, I would like Fenrir to jump you to the Citadel immediately and act as our diplomat. Is the Sol Council in agreement?"_

" _Indeed,"_ Gordon nodded.

" _Yes,_ " Siegel nodded.

" _It is the best option,_ " Rondo noted in agreement.

" _It'll work,_ " Shala'Ran informed calmly. " _Especially if the media catches wind of this._ "

" _Very well then, I approve of this course of action,_ " Uzumi nodded in confirmation.

" _Take one of the battle-damaged cruisers. We are the victims in this battle after all and we should show it,"_ Michelle suggested. _"While the_ Endymion _is damaged too, a dreadnought-sized ship is more likely to spook them than anything."_

"Very well, I shall make arrangements on my end," James informed with a salute. "I hope to bring back good news soon."

" _We're counting on you, friend,_ " Uzumi said confidently.

" _I'll send over the coordinates to the Citadel. I believe there are Quarians on your ships who will be able to advise you once you're there,_ " Shala'Ran could be seen typing away on her console. _"Best of luck to you."_

"Thank you, representative," James nodded to the Quarian. "I'll report back as soon as possible."

With that he closed the link from his end before turning to an aide. "Get in contact with Fenrir, tell them we have a Priority-1 job for them."

"Yessir, I'll get on it right away," the aide replied with a salute before moving to follow through.

Letting out a sigh James rubbed his forehead a bit before shaking his mind clear and moved to get himself ready for the upcoming mission.

* * *

"I want the _Archangel_ , _Retribution,_ and the _Havok_ ready for a slipspace jump in twenty minutes!" Kira announced as she stepped onto the bridge of the _Havok_ , a deep look on concentration on her face. "We will be escorting the the fleet admiral and his escort directly to the Citadel."

" _Eh? We're not helping with search and rescue anymore?"_ came a confused reply from Fubuki over the comms.

"Negative," Kira confirmed. "This takes priority, the Council wants the Fleet Admiral on that station by the end of the day."

" _Roger that,"_ Dearka sounded a little reluctant to return, but acknowledged the order anyway.

" _Yes ma'am,"_ Yzak sighed as the Fenrir mobile suits began to return to their ships.

" _Back to the Citadel, eh…"_ Shaena murmured. _"Diplomatic mission?"_

" _Looks like it,_ " Tali confirmed with a nod. " _Wonder how they're going to react to seeing Quarians with Humans._ "

" _The Citadel is that giant space station, right?"_ Mir inquired. _"The one that kind of looks like a Heliopolis that can open up."_

" _Yes, it can, apparently nothing can break through its 'arms' when it closes,_ " Jinn noted calmly.

" _Either of you been there before?"_ Tolle directed the question at the two Quarians.

" _Nope,_ " they both replied.

" _The Migrant Fleet was…_ encouraged _to stay away from the Citadel,_ " Tali elaborated. " _'Our ships would disturb the flight lanes' they claimed._ "

" _So they're assholes,"_ Fubuki concluded. _"Ummm, we're leaving the search and rescue to the Shanxi fleet, right? Then we can rest easy…"_

"The rest of the fleets will be arriving soon to relieve the Shanxi fleet and set up defenses," Kira assured. "Our job is to ensure the peace talks happen."

" _Good…"_ Sai sighed. _"Those Turians will pay for this."_

"It is not our job to take revenge," Kira announced to everyone. "Our job is to create peace, but, if they wish to continue to push the Sol Council in war, we will stand ready to put an end to the war."

" _Well, demanding monetary or material compensation for what they cost us is possible, isn't it?"_ Sai pointed out.

"Yes, but that is up to the Sol Council," Kira pointed out. "Remember, as we currently stand, Fenrir is a separate entity from the Sol Council, even if we are allies."

" _It's a little hard to remember that given how much they rely on us,"_ Dearka said.

" _I hope we'll see more friendly aliens over there,"_ Fubuki added.

" _Well, I think the Salarians will like you,_ " Tali commented idly. " _Even if it's just to talk science and mechanics with you._ "

" _Salarians are the… um, I don't know how to describe them,"_ Tolle muttered. _"Anyway, I'll leave that kind of talk to you Coordinators. Somehow I get the feeling a Natural like me wouldn't be able to keep up."_

" _Don't sell yourself short, Tolle,_ " Athrun commented. " _Your talents just lie elsewhere._ "

" _Knock knock,"_ quipped Stella as the Midgar could be seen from the Havok's bridge approaching the catapult.

"Midgar, you are clear for landing," the comms operator confirmed with a roll of her green eyes as she tucked some of her green hair behind her ear. "Catapult Four is clear."

"Maintenance team, please clear all catapult decks for landing. Barrett to Catapult Twelve, Ariete to Catapult Eleven."

"Duel to Catapult Five, Buster to Catapult Ten, Aegis to Catapult Eight."

"Catapult decks One through Four clearing."

"Bardiche, Razor, Testament, Rayya-1, Rayya-2, Rayya-3, please wait your turn to land," the comms operator continued to instruct. "All maintenance teams, prepare mobile suit bays for general maintenance of mobile suits."

" _Maintenance teams confirm,_ " the commanding officer of the teams replied.

"Engines, ready slipspace drive for transit with guest ships," another operator informed as the bridge began to erupt into noise as orders were relayed.

"Roger, reactor to full output. Power to slipspace drive."

"Weps, keep on standby, have power routed to capacitors for quick charge if needed," the ship's captain ordered, a stern looking forty something woman with auburn colored hair pulled into a severe bun with hard brown eyes. "Don't route the power to the weapons until I tell you so."

"Weapons confirm, routing 20% power to capacitors for quick charge."

"Midgar has landed. Bardiche to Catapult Four, Razor to Catapult Six. Barrett and Ariete have landed. Razor to Catapult Twelve. Rayya-1 to Catapult Eleven."

" _Rayya-1 copies,"_ Tali acknowledged, her custom Jotnar moving towards one of the Havok's rear catapults.

"Maintenance reports that Falcon-lead's Lofn has a gyro malfunction, they're citing twelve hours until repaired for combat."

"We are bringing out a M2 Astray for Falcon-lead to use in the meantime!"

" _Retribution_ reports all mobile suits loaded and ready to jump on our mark!"

" _Archangel_ reports that they are five minutes out from being ready to jump on our mark."

"Report from the Shanxi fleet! They will arrive in twenty minutes for jump!"

"Duel and Buster have landed, Rayya-2 to Catapult Five. Rayya-3 to Catapult Ten."

"" _Rayya-2/3 copy,""_ came the reply from Shaena and Sal.

"All mobile suits loaded! They're being locked into their berths now!"

"Begin the pre-slipspace preparations!" the captain called out. "Once the Shanxi fleet ships arrive, get them locked in and get us moving!"

"Running pre-slipspace checklist."

Kira smirked a bit as she turned away from the controlled chaos that was the large bridge of Fenrir's Super Assault Carrier and headed deeper into the ship, intentending to eat while she still could.

* * *

 **END CHAPTER**

 **DKR: Hey guys, Dragon here, sorry for taking so long to get this out, but, well, other projects, life, and other things got in the way a bit too much unfortunately for us to make a concentrated effort on this.**

 **AstralXYZ: Life, in short. Never really know what it'll throw at us. How long has it been since our last update… whoa last update October 17th, 2017. Half a bloody year. Well, the way things are looking we might be putting in a short burst on this one.**

 **DKR: Wish I could make promises for a more regular update guys, but we are not going to be forgetting this.**

 **AstralXYZ: Incidentally, I noticed in the comments that there were some questions about atmospheric DRAGOONs. Officially our explanation is that they incorporate an eezo core to reduce their mass enough for smaller thrusters to lift them, making them usable in the atmosphere. You can expect to see this being addressed in the fic later on.**

 **DKR: So, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and hopefully we can get you the next one out… soonish? Or at least within 2018. Later!**

* * *

 **MOBILE SUIT CODEX**

 **Model Number** : FMS-Y52 Barrett Gundam  
 **Unit Type** : Heavy Artillery Type Custom Mobile Suit  
 **Powerplant** : Heavy Cold Fusion Reactor  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Equipment and Design Features** :  
Variable Phase Shift Armor  
Enhanced Targeting Systems  
Cruiser-Class Kinetic Barriers  
Subflier  
 **Fixed Armament** :  
2x Igelstellung III, mounted in head  
2x Gottfried II beam cannons, mounted on forearms  
 _Subflier_  
2x Positron Blasters  
4x eight-tube missile launchers.  
 **Pilot(s)** : Dearka Elsman  
 **Appearance** : Similar frame to the Hail Buster Gundam with a backpack similar to the Justice on its back, subflier has two large cannons on it that fold over the shoulders. Colored brown with green highlights  
 **Info** : A Gundam designed and constructed by Dearka. One of the few mobile suits to carry positron blasters that are normally used on capital ships along with cruiser-class kinetic barriers. Both of which are powered by a Heavy Cold Fusion Reactor leading it to being on the class of a cruiser-class ship despite being a mobile suit.

 **Model Number** : FMS-Y72 Bardiche Gundam  
 **Unit Type** : General Purpose Custom Mobile Suit  
 **Powerplant** : Cold Fusion Eezo Reactor  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Equipment and Design Features** :  
Variable Phase Shift Armor  
Subflier  
MS-Class Kinetic Barriers  
 **Fixed Armament** :  
2x Igelstellung III, mounted in head  
 _Subflier  
_ 2x rail cannons, deployed over shoulders in use  
4x 4 tube missile launchers.  
 **Optional Armaments:**  
1x Heavy Beam Axe  
75mm Beam Rifle with beam bayonet  
 **Pilot(s)** : Yzak Joule  
 **Appearance** : Has a similar frame to the Duel with a slimmer, less blocky design with a backpack similar to the Justice, colored dark blue with white highlights.  
 **Info** : A gundam designed and constructed for the sole use of Yzak Joule, while not as impressive on paper when compared to some of the other mobile suits used by Fenrir, the Bardiche is able to fit into any role it needs to without swapping out any of its equipment making it ready to deploy into any situation as needed.

 **Model Number** : FMS-Y61 Razor Gundam  
 **Unit Type** : Stealth Use Custom Mobile Suit  
 **Powerplant** : Cold Fusion Eezo Reactor  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Equipment and Design Features** :  
Variable Phase Shift Armor  
Enhanced Mirage Colloid Stealth System  
MS-Class Kinetic Barriers  
MS-Class Slipspace Drive  
 **Fixed Armament** :  
2x Igelstellung III, mounted in head  
2x rocket Anchors with beam saber emitters mounted within the anchor, mounted on forearms, beam sabers can be used without deploying anchor  
 **Optional Armaments:**  
65mm beam rifle, hand carried in use.  
Trikeros III Offensive Shield  
3x 'Lancer Darts' Hypervelocity Kinetic Energy Penetrator  
Disruptor Torpedo launcher, carries three torpedos  
 **Pilot(s)** : Nicol Amalfi  
 **Appearance** : Similar to the Blitz Gundam with a more smooth look to the angles, giving it a curvy design. Colored black with red and white highlights.  
 **Info** : Designed and constructed for the use of Nicol Amalfi, the Razor Gundam is considered to be at the peak of Mirage Colloid tech with the improved Mirage Colloid capable of operating for a nearly limitless time when powered by the Cold Fusion Reactor mounted into the Gundam. The Razor is one of the few units to be mounted with an experimental MS-Class Slipspace Drive to allow it to enter a system on its own undetected to gather information and perform sabotage operations in the enemy space. It was not loaded with an Element Zero styled Cold Fusion Reactor to ensure enemy units couldn't detect the Eezo.

 **Model Number** : FMA-Y20 Exceed II  
 **Unit Type** : Interception/Attack-use Mobile Armor  
 **Powerplant** : Cold Fusion Eezo Reactor  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Equipment and Design Features** :  
Variable Phase shift Armor  
MA-Class Kinetic Barriers  
Hardpoints for Optional Equipment  
G-Force Protection System  
 **Optional Equipment:**  
EMD Radar and Tracking Disruptor  
Enhanced Mirage Colloid  
Tactical Maneuvering Pack  
Hyper Impulse Maneuverability Thrusters  
Slipspace Drive  
 **Fixed Armament** :  
2x beam cannons, mounted under wings  
Beam Gatling cannon, mounted behind cockpit, controlled by either VI or second pilot  
4x linked beam machine guns, mounted in nose  
 **Optional Armaments:**  
Disruptor torpedoes  
Assorted Missiles  
 **Pilot(s)** : Jade Asuka, many  
 **Appearance** : Similar to the original Exceed Fighter.  
 **Info** : The second generation Exceed used by Fenrir and now mass produced for use by it's pilots, the Mobile Armor is capable of filling many roles, but it's primary role is high speed interception.

* * *

 **SHIP CODEX**

 _Diligence_ -class  
 **Ship Type** : Limited Production Space Use Super Assault Carrier  
 **Powerplant** : Large Cold Fission Reactor( **Fenrir** ); Compact Nuclear Reactors( **Others** )  
 **Manufacture:** Morgenroete, Terminal, Fenrir, Integrated Design Bureau, Anaheim Electronics  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir, Sol Council, Terminal  
 **Known Ships:  
** _Havok_ (Fenrir) _  
Wishbringer_ (Terminal)  
 _Shinpan_ (Sol Council) **  
Special Armor and Equipment:  
** Laminated Plated Titanium-Carbonite Armor  
Sensors, range unknown  
DRAGOON Control Center  
12x Mobile Suit Catapults, Eight Facing Forward, Four Aft  
N-Jammer Cancellers  
 **Armaments** :  
20x 'Regent' Triple Barreled Rotary Beam Cannons  
10x 'Broadside' 250mm Beam Cannons, mounted on the Aft of the ship  
5x 'Glepnir' Dual Barreled Positron Cannons  
50x Multi Missile Launchers  
1x Hyper Impulse Beam Cannon 'Aufstand'  
Many x Pulse Beam CIWS Anti-Missile Turrets  
Many x DRAGOON Beam Cannons  
Many x DRAGOON Fangs  
Many x DRAGOON Beam Assault Bits  
Many x DRAGOON Shield Bits  
 **Carries:  
** 50x Assorted Mobile Suits **  
Known Captains:  
** _Havok_ \- Ferris Takamichi  
 _Wishbringer_ \- Wanda McMasters  
 _Shinpan_ \- Captain Todaka **  
Known Crew:  
** Many **  
Sections:  
** Bridge  
Pilot Ready Room  
Hanger  
Armory  
Maintenance Bay  
Engine Room  
Infirmary  
Cafeteria  
Barracks  
Officer Quarters  
Shooting Range  
Armory  
 _Fenrir Upgrade  
_ Indoor Hot Springs  
Workshop  
 **Info:** The Pinnacle of both Natural and Coordinator technologies, the _Diligence_ line is considered to be the _most_ expensive ship to be ever produced by _anyone_ in the Sol Council, requiring Morgenroete, Anaheim Electronics, Integrated Design Bureau, Terminal and Fenrir to come together to produce the three units, one going to the Sol Council, another to Terminal and the final unit going to Fenrir where it was rumoured to be further upgraded.  
 **Appearance:** arkhonusdotdeviantartdot com slash art slash Diligence-class-Assault-Carrier-599726670

FC/D-01 _Retribution_ -class  
 **Ship Type** : Experimental Space/Atmosphere Battleship/Cruiser  
 **Manufacture:** Fenrir  
 **Operator(s):** Fenrir  
 **Known Ships:  
** _Retribution_  
 _Silver Sun  
Divergence  
Ship Breaker  
Jormungandr_  
 **Reactor:** Ship Class Cold Fusion Eezo Reactors **  
Special Armor and Equipment:**  
Laminated plated Titanium Armor  
ECM Countermeasures  
4x Linear Catapults  
 **Armaments** :  
4x 230cm 'Hammer' Dual Barreled Beam Cannons, mounted atop of Linear Catapults  
10x 200cm 'Saber' Single Barreled Beam Cannons, mounted across the hull, four on rear of the ship  
5x 45cm 'Lancer' Triple Artillery Cannons, mounted across the hull, one mounted in the rear  
50x 50mm 'Interceptor' Six Barreled Anti-Air Chainguns, mounted across the hull  
30x Small Missile Tubes, mounted across the hull  
8x Medium Missile Tubes, mounted across the hull  
4x Heavy Missile Tubes, mounted across the hull  
'Sledge' Anti-Ship Missiles  
'Flack' Anti-Air Missile  
'Shatter' Scattershot Missile  
'Skybolt' Orbital Bombardment Missile  
 **Carries:  
** 10x Mobile Suits **  
Known Captains:  
Known Crew:  
Sections:  
**Bridge  
Pilot Ready Room  
Hanger  
Armory  
Maintenance Bay  
Engine Room  
Infirmary  
Cafeteria  
Barracks  
Officer Quarters  
 **Overall Length:** 650 meters long  
 **Appearance:** A cross between the General Revil, Reinforce Junior and Adrastea

 **Size comparison:**

Generic ME cruisers: approximately 500m long  
Generic ME dreadnoughts: nearly 1km long  
Normandy SR-2: 216m  
Normandy SR-1: 155m  
Archangel: 420m, considered a cruiser by Turian standards  
Gondwana-class: 1.2km

 **Sol Council members:**

Uzumi Nara Athha: Elect Head, Earth Sphere Alliance  
Rondo Mina Sahaku: Chief Representative, ORB Union  
Michelle King: President, Earth Alliance  
Gordon Charman: Represenative, Mars  
Shala'Ran vas Tonbay: Representative, Migrant Fleet  
Siegel Clyne, PLANTs represenative


	6. Chapter 5: Ushering in Peace

**Disclaimer** : None of us own Gundam SEED or Mass Effect

 **Chapter Five: Ushering in Peace**

* * *

"1 minute to warp out."

"All ships, this is Kira Yamato on the _Havok,_ " Kira announced over the FLEETCOM. "We are warping out soon, all hands are move to Level Two battlestations, pilots not on escort or picket duty are to remain in their units on standby until further notice."

" _Roger,"_ came a chorus over the comms.

" _Escort squad, standing by for launch on catapults,"_ Jinn said.

" _Picket squad, standing by for launch on catapults,"_ Yzak reported in.

"Alright, signal the Fleet admiral, that we're ready, I'll meet him on the Citadel once we get clearance to land," Kira instructed.

"Admiral reports he's ready on his end."

" _I can't wait to see what the Citadel is like in person,"_ Hanami sounded quite excited. _"Permission for shore leave after we're done escorting our prince?"_

"On the shelf for now," Kira informed with a small chuckle. "It all depends on things go with the Citadel Government."

"One moment this feels like a professional military outfit and then the next it doesn't," Shaena remarked from the bridge beside Kira, the two Quarian pilots there to advise the command crew on Citadel protocol.

" _Welcome to Fenrir, sanity optional,_ " Yzak, Sal and Dearka chorused as one.

"Put our best foot forward people, this is the galactic stage we're talking about here," Kira ordered firmly. "Keep your shenanigans in check, Hanami, Fubuki, that includes your masks."

"" _What masks?""_ came faux-confused replies from the two sisters.

Kira opened a vid screen and pinned them both with her best 'boss glare'. "Don't fuck this up," she said firmly before closing it.

"Warp out in 10."

Kira took in a deep breath as they exited the multicolored slipspace and came out to see a massive space station ahead of them, a mass of ships flittered here and there.

"Detecting scanners, they spotted us!"

"Sending first contact package with a request for a meeting!"

"Analyse the station, get me a report on it," Kira shouted.

"The Citadel is resisting most of our scanners. Or rather our scanners can't make much sense of it."

"Trust me, the Citadel's a mystery even to the Citadel races," Tali revealed. "They know how to control it just barely. Supposedly they don't even maintain the station, there's an endemic race native to the Citadel called Keepers that handles all that."

Kira's eyes narrowed as she took in the information looking at the Quarian. "So they set up their highest government on a station they don't even understand?" she questioned incredulously. "That seems… ill advised."

"I've been onboard the Citadel before," one of the Quarian bridge operators said. "It's a nice place, kept really well maintained by the Keepers. Almost unnaturally well. People though? Not so nice."

"We're Quarians after all," another Quarian operator chuckled.

Kira nodded in response. "Any response from the citadel? Or movement from their fleets?" she questioned.

"Negative on the Council response," the comms operator announced.

"Their ships are turning to point their bow guns at us though," the radar operator reported.

"We did just jump out of nowhere…" Shaena muttered. "Spooked them bad."

"Ensure kinetic barriers are active, do not fully engage weapons unless they fire upon us first," Kira instructed as she paced on the bridge, her eyes on the obvious dreadnought of the Citadel fleet, although she was a bit baffled by the massive _hole_ in the center of it. "We are not going to be the aggressors here, any info on their dreadnought?"

"That's the Destiny Ascension, one of the Asari dreadnoughts," one of the Quarians explained. "Flagship of the Citadel Fleet."

"Why does it have a hole in the center of it?" the Havok's captain, Ferris Takamichi questioned. "Even _with_ Eezo, it seems like that would just add more stress points on the ship."

"Asari ship designs are weird," one of the Quarian operators shrugged, pulling up another screen onto the main display showing what looked like a smaller version of the Destiny Ascension. "Don't ask me, even their cruisers are built like that."

Kira sighed as she rubbed her eyes before shaking her head. "Not our problem," she decided finally. "They're certainly taking their time with responding to us."

"We did drop in unannounced," Tali pointed out, looking out the window at the sight. "It looks incredible…"

Kira glanced out the viewscreen again as she continued to pace. "Does it look like the fleet is going to attack?" she questioned one of the sensor operators.

"Negative. I think they're just surprised."

* * *

Kira sighed again as she paced on the bridge, waiting for the final knowledge on if she were to have to either help make peace, or end the war before it got too far.

A pair of black amphibian like eyes blinked as a Salarian in functional robes observed the images of the fleet that popped up out of seemingly nowhere.

"Wormhole technology… how curious," he commented musingly, his mind racing with the possibilities as he looked over the data packet that had been transmitted with the arrival of the ships, something that had the Turian Councillor on the brink of a nervous breakdown, although the Turian hid it well. "These… 'humans' certainly are interesting, aren't they, Kolonos?" Councillor Quixos of the Salarian Union questioned as the Turian Councillor froze at the question. "Why, they have wormhole travel, that while it is most definitely slower than the Relay network… well… they can just bypass it entirely as they have proven."

He chuckled a bit as he moved over to the bar, the pair waiting for the third and final member of their little 'group' to arrive, Councillor Tevos of the Asari Republic.

"And, on top of their wormhole technology… they have _beam_ technology, that, while different than our GARDIAN lasers, are completely able to outrange them, and _bypass_ our shields," the Salarian continued, comewhat relishing the uncomfortable look on his Turian counterparts face. "And your people just decided to open fire on them, without asking a _single_ question."

"You have _no_ proof on that!" Kolonos snapped, glaring at the Quixos as he prepared himself an alcoholic drink, looking entirely nonplussed at the fact that he had an angry Turian glaring at him. "Those videos they sent could be doctored! Besides, they broke the law! And they _knew_ about the law from the Quarians!"

"Their _criminals_ broke the law," Quixos countered with narrowed eyes, as any lightness in his tone vanished. "And both the Spectres _and_ the STG have confirmed that the video they sent us was _not_ doctored in any way. Proving that the fleet _murdered_ over _one million civilians_."

Kolonos flinched back in response as Tevos strode into the room with a thunderous expression on her face. "Sorry I'm late, I was held up by the _thousand_ different reporters questioning me on why the Council approved of the attack on a previously _undiscovered_ species who _popped up out of nowhere!_ " the normally calm Asari thundered. "When we placed our trust in the Turians to keep our borders and laws secure, we did _not_ give you permission to go to war as you please!"

"They were breaking the law!" Kolonos shouted in return. "And with the presence of the Quarians they can't even claim ignorance to that fact!"

"AND THAT EXCUSES FULL ON WAR AND MURDER!?" Tevos roared in response.

Honestly, it was a good thing this room was soundproofed, Quixos concluded, or else Tevos' calm public demeanor would be shattered by now for the general public.

"Kolonos, we didn't notice their arrival, until they _announced_ it!" Tevos continued with a strained look on her face. "If they decided to have continued this stupid battle that your people started, they would have just _crippled all of us_."

"Take a breath, Tevos," Quixos suggested as he made his presence known, walking towards her, holding out an Asari cocktail she favored. "While I do agree with the points you made, and we will have to deal with the political fallout of this situation, on a whole it is not _completely_ unsalvageable as they still chose to approach us under the banner of peace."

Tevos accepted the drink, taking a long pull from it as she composed herself. "Agreed," she nodded with a heavy breath. "And to start, Kolonos, you _will_ be sitting this meeting out," she informed.

"What!?" the Turian councillor shouted angrily. "Are you saying that Turians will be having no word in this situation?"

"No, instead it will be your Primarch attending, this is his request," Tevos informed with narrowed eyes. "So, you will not be attending."

Kolonos snarled a bit before letting out a sigh as he slumped a bit, unable to argue, especially knowing it was an order from his Primarch. "Very well."

"Quinox, anything you can tell me that we don't already know?" Tevos asked, looking at the Salarian imploringly.

"Some, mostly this is conjecture and observation though," the Salarian Councillor prefaced before starting. "They are not like most species we encounter, instead it would be best to treat them as equals," he informed, holding up a hand to forestall any questions. "They are experienced spacefarers, we _currently_ have no defense against their weapons. Plus, they have just been attacked because of what we will claim will be a misunderstanding, if we approach this declaring what will be instead of asking what they would like to see, they may just retreat into their borders and continue to develop themselves in ways we cannot predict."

"That… is a fair assessment," Tevos nodded as she began to consider her diplomatic options. "And their weapons?"

"That we can give you a bit more concrete information on," Quinox informed with a small grin. "They seem to be mostly plasma based, rather than laser based like our GARDIAN lasers. This, I believe, is a result of only recently discovering Prothean and Mass Effect Technology."

"So, because of that they found a different way to travel and combat," Tevos noted with a grimace.

"Indeed, and on that note, I don't think the Treaty of Firaxen will apply to them," Quinox added with a small frown.

Tevos rose an eyebrow as she looked to the screen showing the small fleet waiting for their response, in particular one that the rest of the fleet centered around, being nearly a kilometer and a half in length, before turning back to Quinox with her eyebrow still raised.

"That is not a dreadnought," Quinox explained with a serious look before pulling up an image of another large ship. "That ship, and this one, are both _carriers_."

"Carriers?" Tevos replied with a surprised look. "But… why? Fighters can't do that much damage to make a real difference to justify the expenditure of such ships."

"They don't use fighters as we know them," Quinox reminded. "It's easy to miss it in the knowledge of their beam weapons and wormhole travel, but they use large bipedal machines known as Mobile Suits that would be more accurately described as mechanized infantry than fighters," he explained, pulling up an image of one of the machines. "And from what they sent, they have been in use since _before_ they discovered Mass Effect technology."

Tevos' eyes widened in shock as she stared at the images. "How?" she questioned in confusion. "I remember the Turians' efforts trying to develop such machines, and they were never able to get a working prototype, much less something like this. The closest we have are powered Exosuits, and a single one of _those_ costs as much as a frigate!"

"I can't say for sure how," Quinox grimaced with his admittance. "But they seemed to have spent many years in space before truly concentrating on expansion, not only do they have these machines, but truly functioning, self-sufficient _space colonies_ that can grow their own food, they have functioning weather systems in some of them."

"I see why you want us to approach them as equals now," Tevos breathed in shock as she slumped back into a chair. "Goddess, the technological achievements we can gain from working with them…"

"Which is why we are going to have to make nice with them," Quinox agreed with a nod. "I'm not saying bow and scrape, because they have just as much to gain as we do from this, but we _should_ treat them as equals, not clients."

Tevos nodded in understanding. "We should give them clearance to dock," she noted looking at the arrayed ships again. "Have C-Sec on standby for any incidents that pop up as well."

Quinox nodded in agreement a small smile on his face. "I must say, I am feeling like I am in my youth again," he admitted as he took a drink. "It makes me wonder if we are meeting with the next species to have a seat on this council of ours?"

As the Salarian chuckled to himself, the Asari and Turian turned a disbelieving stare at the amphibian who seemed entirely too pleased with his observation.

* * *

"Admiral, we have docking clearance at… a Bay 5."

"Alright, take us in, nice and easy," James announced calmly. "Send a request for them to illuminate the docking berth for us so there are no mess ups."

"Understood, sending message now."

" _We finally got permission?_ " Kira questioned over the vidcom.

"Yes, please have your escort mobile suits from around the _Gibraltar_ ," the Admiral requested with a nod.

" _Of course, I will meet you stationside._ " Kira confirmed before the line cut.

A short moment later, the Exodus, Viral, Ariete, Barrett and Midgar formed up around the ship in a five-pointed star formation with the Viral in the lead. Shortly after a shuttle launched from the _Havok_ falling in next to the _Gibraltar_ as it began to move.

"We have confirmation on the indicated bay," the helmsman confirmed as they began to slide through the Citadel Fleet, the assorted crewmen glancing out the viewscreen nervously at the numerous ships. "Seems their spaceport is on the central ring."

"Keep it easy, Helmsman," James said reassuringly. "No sudden moves, Escort-Lead, how are things looking?"

" _A lot of curious stares, but so far so good,_ " Jinn observed as he looked around at the various streams. _"Some scans our way, but nothing invasive."_

"Switching to RCS thrusters for docking maneuver."

James remained silent as he allowed the helmsman to concentrate on his job as he steered the _Gibraltar_ into the berth, easing the ship in before bringing it to a rest as magnetic clamps locked the ship in place, the shuttle from Fenrir coming to rest on the platform nearby.

"Good work, Helm," he called out. "Remain on level two stations for now," he announced to the crew. "Have ground team ready at the airlock, and remind them to keep their fingers off the trigger."

"Yessir!" the comm operator replied quickly.

* * *

" _Oh look, paparazzi,"_ Fubuki muttered dryly on the private squad channel as the Ariete's head turned towards one of the windows where there were already what looked like reporters swarming around trying to get good photos of them. _"Even aliens have paparazzi."_

" _I guess gossip is a universal thing,_ " Stella commented with a curious look around as her unit moved onto one of the docking piers beside the _Gibraltar._ " _Makes you wonder what they're saying about us._ "

" _Any way we can tune in to their channels, Jinn-koi?"_ Hanami asked their resident electronic warfare expert.

"Of course, but I'm not going to," Jinn replied. "It would be bad form to do that right now, especially if I get caught somehow."

" _Well, they're probably gushing about how awesome our mobile suits are,"_ Dearka smirked.

"A possibility," Jinn agreed with a slight chuckle as the Fleet Admiral left the ship, followed by a squad of commandos, linking up with Kira who was clad in a black armored flight suit and a combat helmet and armed with an assault rifle. "Looks like the package is on its way."

" _So in the meantime we just sit here looking pretty?_ " Stella chuckled, looking around. " _I have to admit, the Citadel looks a lot more impressive when I'm not looking at it through a video._ "

"It is an impressive sight," Jinn nodded in agreement. "But… something about this place makes me feel… unsettled for some reason…"

" _It feels… really artificial,"_ Hanami observed. " _It's strange, I don't get this feeling on a PLANT. The Citadel just feels… cold and machine-like to an extreme._ "

" _Yeah…_ " Dearka murmured slowly. " _I think that might be a spatial awareness thing that you two have,_ " he commented slowly. " _I'm not picking anything like that up myself_."

" _It's bugging me too,_ " Fubuki said as the Ariete scanned the area, ignoring the flashing lights from the media staring at them. " _I don't think I could get used to this place._ "

"Well, I don't think we will have to spend much time here," Jinn noted. "After all, we _are_ a mercenary company."

" _I wonder what kind of stuff they have on sale in the markets around here?_ " Stella wondered, the Midgar turning around trying to find some indication of a commercial district. Given they were in the spaceport though, they were surrounded by metal walls and glass windows.

" _They most likely have diverse market, if this is the seat of their central government,_ " Dearka commented with a shrug. " _Those places are always huge and have a thriving market of some kind._ "

" _If we have time, I'd like to get some souvenirs for our kids,_ " Hanami smiled. " _Ah, but then we don't have money we can use here…_ "

"We have the credits the Quarians had before joining us," he informed calmly. "Kira made some exchanges with the Migrant Fleet in exchange for some of our currency. We have about… 10,000 galactic standard credits available to Fenrir."

" _We can't be spending Fenrir money on our kids though,_ " Hanami shook her head. " _Company money is company money, personal money is personal money._ "

"I'm sure we can get some of our money exchanged soon enough," Jinn assured with a small smile. "And find you some new recipes to experiment with."

" _Definitely, but please don't suggest I cook anything that looks even remotely like a worm,_ " Hanami pleaded. " _I still remember fainting when we went to Southeast Asia and you tried to get me to cook sago worms… God knows what kind of food these aliens eat._ "

Jinn chuckled in response. "Aren't you the one who is always telling me to try new things?" he questioned teasingly.

" _Yes I did, but I'm not putting living, wriggling worms on our dinner table,_ " Hanami shivered. " _Never ever. They're disgusting._ "

"They weren't too bad, strange texture, but it tasted like chicken," Jinn noted, his grin growing as he spoke and saw his wife squirm uncomfortably.

" _Dear… maybe I should think about throwing you out of the bedroom for a night or two,_ " the silverette glared at him.

"And you know you would just end up joining me on the couch," Jinn replied easily.

Hanami blushed as the Exodus turned its head away from Jinn's Viral.

" _Hanami-nee, Jinn-san, keep your flirting off the squad channel please,_ " Fubuki complained.

"Oh, does that mean we have to keep our flirting off the channel too?" Stella questioned with a semi-lecherous smile. "Because I've been meaning to say… I _love_ how form fitting your pilot suit is~"

Fubuki began sputtering incoherently.

Dearka sighed in response. " _Guys, please remember, we're on the job here,_ " he reminded. " _And Kira can hear our every word._ "

" _He's not wrong,_ " Kira inputted suddenly, her voice a mix of disapproval and amusement.

" _Grk,"_ Fubuki choked slightly. _"Focusing now."_

" _Putting the flirting aside for now, I_ _wonder what the Citadel Council is like?_ " Stella mused as she watched their client moving towards the central pillar in the middle of the central ring.

" _From what I heard from the Quarians, the Citadel Council is more like the UN from before the Reconstruction War than anything,_ " Hanami pointed out. " _Each race still does their own thing for the most part, governing their own races. The leaders here are high ranked diplomats, not the actual leaders of their races._ "

" _Yeah, but this is where the_ galactic _laws are made,_ " Dearka pointed out in reply. " _And I'm willing to bet these Councillors have the ears of their leaders as well._ "

" _Of course they do,_ " Fubuki nodded. " _We should have the support of the Salarians because they want our tech, right?_ "

"Possibly, maybe," Jinn replied uncertainty. "They're also known spies and saboteurs."

" _Then we'd better keep an eye out for anyone trying to sneak onto the ship,_ " Fubuki frowned.

"I doubt they would try something as frontal as that," Jinn replied. "If anything, they'd try to hack into our computers first, but I doubt it'll happen during the first contact meeting so soon after an engagement with the Turians."

" _Politicking sucks,_ " Fubuki shook her head.

" _Agreed,_ " Stella and Dearka agreed simultaneously.

"Well, good thing Kira never puts them in charge of mission like this then, eh, dear?" Jinn questioned his wife with a small chuckle.

" _Given Fubuki's empathy it'd be both an advantage and a disadvantage,_ " Hanami sighed. " _She'd be able to tell when a diplomat's lying just by being near them, but intense emotions still overwhelm her._ "

" _She has been improving,_ " Dearka announced with a bit of pride in his voice. " _She doesn't squeak when exposed to Stella's lust anymore._ "

" _More like I've only gotten used to her lust…_ " Fubuki muttered. " _And she feels it every single day…_ "

" _Because Fubuki's boobs are the_ best _boobs!_ " Stella announced cheerfully.

" _Grk_ ," came a strangled noise from the younger silverette.

Jinn sighed as he looked at the list of people connected to the comms.

" _I am still on the line,_ " Kira stated fatly. " _Stella, toilet duty on the_ Havok _for a week._ "

" _Erk,_ " the blond Hisanaga choked a bit in response. " _Y-yes… mom…_ "

* * *

Kira sighed as she shook her head before turning back to observing the area around her, the soft curves of the Citadel illuminated by the simulated sunlight of the light emitters and toggled her tinted faceplate to raise up to just past her mouth. "Sorry about that, Admiral, children," she informed putting a slight humorous tilt to her voice.

"Understandable, your eldest?" he questioned in response, a slight grin on his face.

"She's the only one close enough to cause trouble," Kira admitted with a shrug as she kept scanning the area, her HUD outlining a couple of snipers in the catwalks far above the general populace area. "A lot of watchers."

"Understandable, we're the first of our kind on the Citadel," James nodded, keeping calm through sheer experience alone as they were escorted towards what their escorts had called the Presidium. An apt name considering it was the home of the Citadel government.

"Mm, fair," Kira commented, aware he understood what he was saying, her eyes landing on an insectile quadruped fiddling around with wiring of some kind before turning back ahead of them. "Is it just me, or does everything seem… fake?" she murmured quietly to him as she looked around at the area around them. "And I'm not talking about the simulated environment."

"It might just be you," the Admiral said quietly. "Right now all I can feel is the crushing weight of the stares and the hopes of the Sol Council on me."

Kira grimaced but nodded her understanding, filing the sensation away for the time being as they approached what seemed to be a central elevator. "This elevator leads up to the council chambers," their escort, a rather gruff Asari, clad in a black/blue combat uniform.

"Thank you," James nodded as they waited for several moments for the elevator to come down.

The Asari nodded as the doors opened, the group of humans stepping into the elevator after the Asari who inputted a command causing the elevator to rise.

Kira had to restrain a sigh at how slow the rise of the elevator with only a view of the station arms, her helmet translating an ad for some kind of supplements to become as strong as a Krogan. "Doesn't matter the species, ads and elevators are all the same," she murmured quietly.

"It's strange how similar they are to human society, almost familiar in a way," James murmured.

Kira hummed a bit in response. "It'll be something for the Xeno sociologists to work on, I suppose."

"It depends on whether we can establish a working relationship with them or not," James nodded, looking up above him at the rest of the Citadel. "We won't be able to finish the negotiations in a day for sure. There's a lot I will need to discuss with the Sol Council before I can make decisions. However I've been instructed to dangle a few carrots to have them accept us a bit more easily. A few decommissioned Daggers and ZAKUs are already being prepped for transport back in Sol."

Kira raised an eyebrow behind her tinted visor. "That's a pretty big step," she commented. "Not sure if that's a good idea to be honest."

"All their weapons were removed and their OSes stripped to just the barebones, I hear," James revealed quietly. "They're not getting much. But if it'll take this much to get them to accept us, the Sol Council is ready to offer it."

Kira hummed in response. "That's good then," she murmured as the elevator began to slow and opened up. "Sakura trees?" she questioned in surprise at the sight of the pink leaved trees in the room before them.

"I wouldn't know, I haven't seen one on Earth before," James strode onwards.

Kira let out a low hum as she followed after him, inspecting the trees for a moment before noticing some minor details with the trees and shrugged it off. "An elevated position, makes it hard for invaders to attack."

"Also a classic way to make themselves look grand and humble any visitors," James observed the whole atmosphere, the light streaming in from the windows bathing the three obvious leaders of the Citadel Council first. "Classic psychology."

Kira snorted lightly in response. "After the things we've seen?" she questioned dryly. "Going to have to try harder than that to psych me out."

"I'm sure," James smiled before raising his voice to address the Citadel Council, "It's an honor to meet you, esteemed persons of the Citadel Council. I am Fleet Admiral James Henderson of the Sol Council's Shanxi Expeditionary Fleet."

"Greetings, Fleet Admiral," the humanoid standing in the center of the three being, an Asari, returned. "I am Councillor Tevos of the Asari Republic. With me are Councillor Quinox of the Salarian Union and Primarch Fedorian representing the Turian Hierarchy in place of Councillor Kolonos who is unable to attend at this time."

"Before we begin, let me first say this, I am very sorry for the loss of lives that has befell your people at the hands of my own," the Primarch started solemnly. "Unfortunately, the captain that started it all jumped the gun when he should have waited for permission to start an invasion."

"The incident has left a great mark on we of the Sol Council," James said, casting a look downwards. "I would like to say I understand your circumstances, however the unilateral aggression of the Turians towards our colony has cost over a million civilian lives and it would be disrespectful to them not to at least ask for some reparations from your end, not to mention soothe the wrath of our other civilians who have no doubt heard the news by now."

Fedorian nodded his understanding. "I understand," he informed calmly. "From the reports received, our admiral mistakenly believed the station in orbit to be military in nature, relying on our own cultural influences to make this decision, it does not excuse the fact that non combatants were killed with no chance to surrender. Once we have a cease fire signed, and your representatives arrive, we can begin discussions on the reparations."

"Then let us proceed with the ceasefire signing first," James agreed. "As we speak, a proper representative from the Sol Council is preparing to come to the Citadel."

The three representatives relaxed a bit as they shared a look before the Primarch stepped down from his separated podium.

Kira tensed a bit as he approached, but didn't raised her rifle from the standby position. "Then, I Primarch Fedorian propose an unconditional ceasefire and end the hostilities between our species," he announced as a holographic document appeared before the two of them, outlining the ceasefire. "This incident has been tragic and I want to see this being put to rest behind us moving forward."

"It would be in both our interests to prevent escalation of this conflict," James agreed, with a small chuckle. "I see the concept of a signature or a pen is not unique to humanity."

Fedorian chuckled a bit in response. "Well, if there is one thing I learned, it is that bureaucracy always finds a way," he joked slightly. "No matter the species or culture."

"I hope we can build a good relationship moving on," James nodded. "Also, I'm afraid I have not been adequately briefed on Citadel social protocol - does the concept of a handshake also exist?"

The Turian tilted his head a moment as he considered the question. "We do have something similar," he admitted. "It is often used as a sign of peace by showing our talons to another to grasp."

James looked at his own hand. "I'm afraid I have no talons, but I can try at least," he admitted with a perfectly straight face.

Fedorian blinked before strangling back a laugh. "I look forward to working with you in the future," he assured with a grin as he reached out with his hand.

"I as well," James similarly reached out and curled a finger around one of Fedorian's talons. "Am I doing it correctly?"

Fedorian let out another chuckle as he returned the gesture. "Yes, yes you are," he informed, trying to keep himself from bursting out in laughter.

"Clearly you Humans are not devoid of a sense of humour either," the Salarian Councillor smiled. "Welcome to the Citadel, Fleet Admiral James Henderson of the Sol Council."

"Thank you for the welcome," James replied, bowing his head slightly. "I look forward to working with you all in the future."

"Now that the formal ceasefire has been established, would you like to take a small tour of the Citadel?" the Asari Councillor offered. "It's the least we can offer for a first-time diplomatic envoy."

"That would be most appreciated," James replied with a small smile.

"Your men may come along as well, you have our word that we will keep a close guard on your ships to prevent any untoward incidents," Fedorian added.

"My thanks, I will ensure to extend your offer towards the ones that are currently off duty," James replied. "Can't go easy on the enlisted after all."

The two shared a smirk and a chuckle as Kira rolled her eyes behind her helmet as the visor closed completely. "Escort-Lead, come in," she said over the radio.

" _This is Escort-Lead, I hear you,_ " Jinn replied quickly.

"Escort can stand down, ceasefire has been signed, we've been offered a tour of the Citadel as well," Kira informed quickly. "It'll be a gesture of good faith to have you all disembark from your units, make sure to lock them down completely though."

" _Of course we will,_ " Jinn replied, the eyeroll audible in his tone. " _Escort is standing down._ "

"10-4," Kira replied before changing channels. "Picket-Lead, come back."

" _Picket-Lead, I read you,_ " Yzak replied quickly. " _What's the situation?_ "

"Picket can stand down," Kira informed. "Ceasefire has been signed, off duty personnel can come to the Citadel for a tour if they are interested."

" _Picket-Lead confirms, standing down,_ " Yzak replied. " _I'll pass the offer onto the men._ "

"Thank you Yzak," Kira said with a small smirk. "Good work." she added before closing the link and fully opening her visor.

* * *

"Their paparazzi's having a field day with this," Fubuki remarked as she slid down the ascent line from the kneeling Ariete's cockpit hatch, observing the various reporters jostling for good shots as the pilots exited their cockpits.

"Just remember not to start anything," Jinn reminded as he pulled off his helmet and held it under his arm. "And if the press starts asking questions, just remember, no answers on sensitive subjects, which includes mobile suit mechanics, piloting and occupation for now."

"Those are a given, aren't they?" Stella walked over to Jinn, hand-in-hand with Fubuki.

"Eh, we just need to be reminded every now and then," Dearka commented with a shrug, coming up behind the pair, being mindful of the cameras on them. "And that means none of your usual shenanigans in public either," he added in a murmur.

"And especially no groping my breasts," Fubuki whispered to Stella. "I still haven't forgotten when you did that to me and embarrassed me in the mess hall…"

"And no masks," Jinn added in firmly.

"What mask?" Hanami affected a confused tone.

"Hanami," Jinn said lowly. "This isn't Fenrir where it'll be laughed off."

"I know, I know, I won't use it," Hanami pouted slightly.

"Thank you," Jinn said appreciatively before kissing her on her cheek.

"Incoming," Dearka announced as he looked over to the entrance of the spaceport where the Picket Squad was approaching.

Jinn raised an eyebrow. "Picket Squad, this is Escort-lead, what's going on?" he questioned into the radio.

" _Escort-Lead, this is Picket-Lead, we were told to stand down and those interested were free to come aboard the station for a tour,_ " Yzak replied as a small number of shuttles approached. " _We decided we're interested._ "

" _And, well, the Havok wouldn't fit in this spaceport so it's heading to a different one,"_ Mir explained over the radio.

"I suppose so," Fubuki glanced over at the other empty berths, noting that none of them would be able to accommodate a 1200-meter long super assault carrier like the _Diligence_ -class _Havok_.

Jinn nodded his understand as he closed the link. "Alright, break up into groups I guess," he sighed, gripping his wife's hand. "And if you cause an incident, not only will you have to deal with the paperwork, but also Lacus' lecture on public relations."

"We know, we know," Stella shivered slightly at the thought of her other mother's lectures. "Mother is scary when she gets mad."

The pilots shared a chuckle at the memory of the pink-haired songstress losing her temper with one of the newer recruits when they messed up in a rather public fashion.

"I don't know about you two," Dearka started, looking to Fubuki and Stella. "But I'm ready to start exploring."

"So am I," Hanami smiled, squeezing Jinn's hand lightly. "So… we do get a tour guide, right? None of us know our way around after all."

"A guide?" Yzak called out in question as he got off the ascent line. "That would probably be for the best in the end."

"So, any thoughts on what we've seen so far?" Stella asked the newly-arrived members of Picket squad.

"Looks to be, well… alien," Sai admitted. "Although not that different from how the Quarians explained things."

"I've got my omni-tool ready to take pictures," Mir was bouncing on her feet in excitement.

Tolle chuckled a bit. "Not often we can act like a bunch of tourists," he commented in amusement.

"Well, this is somewhere new," Nicol informed with a chuckle. "And we're not on duty."

"Just a shame we can't visit some of the bars without issue," Yzak sighed.

"Thinking about going drinking already, Yzak?" Dearka elbowed his old friend. "I bet you can't wait to see what kind of alien alcohol exists."

"Not really, just in need of a drink with all these camera flashes going off," he countered with a sighed, rubbing his eyelids.

"But you can't deny you want to try out alien alcohol," Dearka grinned.

"Of course I won't deny it," Yzak sighed as he rolled his eyes. "I'd just rather wait until _after_ treaties are signed before getting drunk off my ass."

"Couch for a week if you knock yourself out drinking," Fubuki instantly said with a slightly dark look at Dearka.

"Wasn't planning on it, Fubuki," Dearka replied with an easy grin. "Besides, I don't drink _that_ heavily anymore."

"Good," the younger silverette relaxed slightly. "Drunk people make it hard for me to think."

"Wait, do you get drunk by contact?" Dearka questioned with a confused look.

"Oh! I wanna see a drunk Fubuki!" Stella giggled as she pulled the silverette's arm into her chest.

"Empath, remember? I don't get drunk per se, but the feelings of drunk people go all over the place and are very distracting…" Fubuki replied as she tapped her cranium.

"Well, I'm sure we'll see a drunk Fubuki sometime!" Stella announced with an impish grin.

"No spiking her drinks, Stella," Dearka countered with a firm look.

"Ah, excuse me?" A flanged voice called out to the group. "Excuse me, I'm Garrus Vakarian, with C-Sec, I was assigned to be your guide through the Citadel."

Greeting them was… a male Turian with greyish-coloured skin with blue face paint and in blue armour marked with C-Sec and a visor over a single eye. There really wasn't much else the group could use to differentiate him from the other Turians they had seen thus far given their appearances varied less than humans.

"C-Sec… that's Citadel Security, right?" Fubuki asked, rubbing her head slightly.

Garrus nodded in response. "Yeah, we're in charge of making sure that the Citadel stays peaceful," he explained calmly. "I understand that you are not with the Sol Council military?" he questioned, consulting his omni-tool for a moment.

"Correct, we're a Private Military under contract with the Sol Alliance," Jinn informed in reply.

"Mercs then," Garrus simplified it quite aptly.

"Essentially, yes," Jinn nodded in response.

"Is it standard protocol to have a security guard acting as a tour guide here on the Citadel?" Hanami arched an eyebrow.

"For a new species, yes," Garrus nodded in response. "Mostly to ensure there are no misunderstandings and that I'm on hand if there are any incidents."

"So… anything you can tell us about any protocol we should observe here?" Nicol asked the Turian.

Garrus shrugged a bit. "No stealing, killing, standard stuff really," he blinked before looking at the group carefully. "From what your first contact package said, it seems we have similar laws for the most part, although we don't really have any… uhh… mobile… suit? Laws… well… _yet_ anyways."

"Perfectly understandable," Sai nodded, looking around.

"Interested in them?" Hanami smirked, noting the long gaze the Turian directed at the mobile suits.

"Honestly, yes, but orders came down from the brass that they're to be left alone and no prodding is to be done," Garrus informed with a nod. "Saw some of the footage from Shanxi, those things are a game changer."

"For you, perhaps," Jinn nodded. "For us, using them is business as usual really."

"Oh, now you're making me jealous," Garrus laughed. "Makes me wonder what C-Sec could do with those things. Just make sure no Batarians come anywhere near them."

"Oh, the slavers?" Dearka questioned. "Yeah, we fought them before, it's actually how the Quarians ended up joining the Sol Council."

"Well, that makes explanations easy," the Turian C-Sec officer grimaced. "Even here on the Citadel, nobody likes them."

"Well, you won't have to worry about them getting mobile suits any time soon," Stella assured with a wide grin. "We make sure to clean up after our messes."

"I'll hold you to it, they're enough trouble without mobile suits," Garrus nodded, turning and heading for the dock exit. "Come on, there's a C-Sec team holding off the reporters for now but I don't know how long they'll last. I'll bring you to the Presidium first, is there anywhere in particular you'd like to go? If not I'll be in generic Citadel tour guide mode."

Jinn looked at the others before shrugging. "Well… we don't know the Citadel to be honest," he admitted. "Why don't you just give us the generic tour for now I guess."

"What about shopping?" Hanami spoke up with a gleam in her eyes. "And food?"

"It seems shopping is a thing among all females regardless of race," Garrus held back a chuckle. "Very well, I'll take you to the Presidium Commons. I've also been authorized to act as your sugar daddy."

Jinn blinked as he frowned and checked his omni-tool. "Sorry, I think there was a translator glitch," he commented.

"Is there a problem with the translator?" Garrus blinked, tapping his omnitool. "I believe you sent it over yourself in your first contact package though…"

"Well, you said you were to act as our… sugar daddy…" Dearka noted with a distressed look.

"That is correct, yes," Garrus noted, continuing to tap away at his omnitool as well. "A specific word for someone who provides money to others to spend, correct?"

"Well, in our culture, the specific term for 'Sugar Daddy'... well…" Dearka started looking strained.

"Someone who does that in return for sexual favors," Stella finished.

"I see," Garrus rubbed his forehead. "Then until this translator glitch is resolved, let's just say I'm your banker instead."

"That… would be appreciated," Jinn said with a relieved sigh. "And thank you for your offer."

"I mean, I don't think I'd mind the sexual favours, but our species are a little too biologically different for that," Garrus joked. "You'd get sick in more than one way. Dextro and levo protein differences and all."

Jinn coughed in response. "Are you sure you're not a member of Fenrir," the squad leader questioned in surprise. "With your sense of humor you'd fit right in."

"Last I checked I'm not wearing a Fenrir uniform or piloting a mobile suit, so I'm quite sure I'm not in Fenrir," the Turian grinned. "Thanks for the offer though, I'll consider it when pushing paper starts getting boring and I start getting tied up in political red tape."

"Well, we don't just pilot mobile suits," Dearka informed with a shrug. "So, what kind of shops do you have here in the Citadel?"

"Oh we have a lot," Garrus smiled. "I can introduce you to some of the better weapon vendors I know…"

* * *

Ryu took in a careful breath as he leaned back into his seat on the bridge of the FRV-01 _Ghost_ -class Stealth Cruiser, _Ghost_ , being the first of its class and the first rolled out by Fenrir. "They really haven't detected us?" Ryu questioned in surprise as he looked out the viewscreen at the Citadel, watching as the picket screen of mobile suits filtering back to their ships as the order to stand down was sent out. "We don't even have the Mirage Colloid active."

"We are painted in Singularity Black here and sitting against the backdrop of space, I'm not surprised they can't even see us," one of the bridge crew spoke up.

The _Ghost_ was painted in a special black paint that would absorb nearly all light shone on it. The paint was a little on the expensive side, but a worthwhile investment for a ship that could now hide in the pitch darkness of space and fool most optical sensors. As if that weren't enough it had revolutionary thermal management systems to sink its heat deep into the hull as well as a Mirage Colloid stealth system for when the black would actually stand out. It was Fenrir's most state of the art stealth ship to date.

"Well, we can start relaxing at bit," Ryu announced as he chuckled a bit. "The ceasefire was signed and the Sol Council is well on its way to signing a treaty of some kind."

"Seeing your warships in action, they would be morons not to seek peace," the sole Salarian operator on the crew, and in Fenrir to date, grinned. "Even years after you rescued me from those Batarian slavers, I still find myself amazed by your technology and ingenuity, and it was all developed independently of mass effect technology to begin with. Though I fear the Council may have less than… noble objectives."

"They want our tech for themselves," Ryu nodded in understanding. "Well, I'm sure the Sol Council will probably do some tech sharing, but they won't make it easy for the Council, and if they try to take Fenrir tech by force… well…" Ryu trailed off with a smirk and a shrug. "We've got plenty of places to hide that even the Sol Council isn't even aware of."

"I don't know about the Turians, but the Salarian Dalatrass may try to sic the STG on us," the Salarian said. "I am at least grateful for you letting me be the first in the door before you start closing it for fear of STG infiltrators."

Ryu snorted a bit in response. "They will try," he agreed with a small chuckle. "And we will be vigilant, but we can't afford to turn people away, especially when the Reapers are predicted to start their culling soon…"

"I can still barely believe it," the Salarian shook his head. "A super-ancient race of synthetics, predating even the Geth that are hellbent on wiping out all life as we know it… Are you planning on presenting the evidence to the Citadel? I do not believe this is a threat that we can face alone."

"We are planning on it," Ryu said in confirmation. "Actually… we may even approach the STG about it if the Council refuses to listen…"

"May I present myself as a suitable intermediary for that task, boss?" the Salarian grinned.

Ryu chuckled a bit in response. "I'll keep it in mind, Garmoln," he assured the Salarian. "For now though, we will wait to see what the Sol Council does from here."

"Very well, boss," Garmoln turned back to his console. "Just keep in mind the Citadel Council may require more evidence than that."

Ryu snorted as a frown crossed his face. "Then they're idiots," he announced calmly. "Besides, it's not really the council we need to convince, it's the species leaders we need to convince."

"It would be heavily determined by your relationships with the leaders on a case-by-case basis, I would say," Garmoln mused. "From what I heard from your mate's end, it would seem that you have a head start with the Turian Primarch. Councillor Tevos would be trying to collect more information and watching both sides carefully, and Councillor Quinox is likely thinking of ways to get his hands on your technology."

"We'll probably approach the Turians first, as they seem to make up the majority of the Citadel's military might," Ryu admitted with a shrug. "We'll see how things go with the Salarians and Asari as time goes on… actually…" Ryu trailed off as he began to consider something.

"Oh, I know that look, the boss is thinking of something stupid and or crazy," one of the bridge operators spoke up with a grin.

Ryu grinned in response. "Well… what better way to convince a group of spies, than by trying to keep information they want to steal from us away from them?" he replied with a chuckle.

"I see your reputation among the staff is not unfounded, boss," Garmoln grinned.

Ryu laughed in amusement. "Hey, it's a crazy galaxy, you gotta be crazy to succeed, right?" he questioned with a wide grin.

* * *

Tevos let out a sigh of relief as she and Quinox retired to the private council chambers. "Thank goddess that went so smoothly," she groaned a bit, looking longingly at the liquor cabinet.

"So… you will be handling the reparations, correct, Councillor Kolonos?" Quinox turned towards the Turian Councillor. "The fault for this incident lies squarely with the Turians after all."

Kolonos gritted a bit before letting out a sigh. "Yes, by the Primarch's orders, I will be doing so," he replied finally, his shoulders sagging. "He said he will discuss the reparations with the Sol Council after the treaty is signed…"

"Good, because I would hate for such a technologically advanced race to boycott the Citadel over this given what they might possibly be able to offer us," Quinox nodded grimly. "I hope your Primarch isn't too charmed by the Human to try and get some samples of their technology off the Sol Council in a trade."

Kolonos shook his head. "He won't be trying to trade until things are settled," he informed carefully. "He wants to be on better footing with these Humans before attempting trading."

"Good good, what I'd give to get a working mobile suit for my people to study," Quinox tapped into the video feed showing the mobile suits in the docking bay where they were deactivated on the pier. Oddly enough their armour seemed to have changed color at some point to completely gray. "I do not see why their colors are different now, but they are unmistakably the same mobile suits. Interesting."

"Perhaps it's an indication of them being in a standby state?" Tevos offered with a shrug. "I'm more curious about their pilots, they're all bearing the same sigil that the Admiral's guard was wearing. Special Forces perhaps?"

"We are completely lacking information on them for now," Quinox frowned. "Little we can do about it now. I'll have two STG squads discreetly investigate their world further when we establish closer contact."

"Remind the Dalatrasses to tread carefully with that," Tevos commented with a serious look. "We can't afford to cause any more diplomatic incidents early on with our relationship with them."

"Or at least make it worthwhile," Kolonos replied with a frown. "Like their wormhole technology."

"But in the meantime, I will have my people double their efforts into researching ways to counter their energy weaponry, in case negotiations go badly," Quinox added. "Nearly an entire Turian fleet lost says a lot about our need for it."

Kolonos grimaced at the reminder before nodding. "I have no doubt that Turian engineers are already starting to look at the exosuits we worked with before to see if they can be used as a base for these… mobile suits," he said with a shrug.

"Please do, Councillor Kolonos," Quinox agreed with a nod. "If they prove to be hostile in the end, we can't afford to let them hold a technological edge over us."

Kolonos nodded in agreement as Tevos rolled her eyes a bit from where she was sitting, even with a new species on the block, it was just another day for the Council.

* * *

A pair of reptilian eyes looked out of the shuttle windows at the small fleet sitting outside of the Citadel, the design of the ships being utterly alien to the large krogan. "What's with the new ships?" he rumbled out curiously to the pilot of the shuttle.

"No clue, I just got back to the Citadel myself," the pilot grunted. "Feel free to turn the news on, I'm curious too."

The hulking reptile grunted slightly as he considered it before activating his omnitool and brought up the news station.

" _... a small skirmish on the border of a newly discovered spacefaring civilization. Called the Sol Council, their diplomat has met with the Citadel Council to establish relations."_

The reptillian's eyes narrowed in response as he listened to the news report. A new species was a rare thing, especially so after holding off a most likely Turian patrol fleet. Not bad…

" _The Sol Council is comprised of a race that call themselves Humans, with the surprising addition of the Quarians that appear to have stumbled upon them before us. This may explain the apparent disappearance of the Migrant Fleet as of late. Originating from a planet called Earth in the Sol system of their namesake, they are a race that seems to share some physical similarities with the Asari, but with males in addition. This information comes from a first contact package that they disseminated to the Citadel on their arrival."_

"Hoh… the Quarians joined them huh?" the krogan chuckled in amusement. "That must've tweaked the nose of the council something fierce."

" _Their warships currently docked on the Citadel show barely any similarities to ours. Our tech expert suggests their technology may be radically different from ours, leading to the divergence in design from ships built around mass accelerators. Further proof can be found in the large mechs currently deactivated in the docking bay beside their diplomat's ship, which the Sol Council calls mobile suits. Mechs were a focus of Turian research several decades ago, however the project was abandoned due to lack of results and they never approached the size of the ones used by the Sol Council anyway. One can only speculate about their true technological level if they have managed to construct and operate mechs of this size."_

That captured the krogan's attention as he turned back to the screen that showed a bipedal looking robot that was completely grey in color. "Now _that_ is interesting," he commented, a grin splitting his lips as he looked the machines over. "That must piss off the Turians fiercely considering that they tout themselves to be on the leading edge of military tech."

" _The Citadel Council has also offered to bring the other people of the Sol Council envoy on a tour of the Citadel. They should be exiting the spaceport any moment now._ "

The krogan grinned in response. "Hey, pilot! When we landing?" he called out eagerly.

"Soon, no need to rush me," the pilot said, guiding the shuttle towards a dock. "So, you trying to look for work on the Citadel, Krogan merc?"

"I think I already found it," the krogan replied with a chuckle as his eyes narrowed at the large machines in the docking bay.

"Thought you were a freelancer," the pilot wondered as the shuttle docked. "Lone wolf kind of guy."

"Nah, I just want to see the point when everything changes," the krogan replied as he gathered his weapons. "And they… will be at the center of it all."

"A Krogan getting all poetic? That's new to me," the pilot shrugged as he opened up the hatch. "Thank you for flying with us, Urdnot Wrex. Hope you enjoyed your flight, and so on so forth…"

The Krogan let out a laugh. "Who says I'm being poetic?" he commented before leaving the shuttle, tromping towards the elevator.

The crowd cleared out of the way of the armoured Krogan nearly instantly, leaving him a free queue to the immigration counter. No one wanted to mess with a Krogan, especially one toting a massive shotgun.

The Turian staffing the counter was practically shaking in his uniform as he processed Wrex through.

Wrex paid none of them any mind as he moved through the parting crowds, one thought on his mind. This new species called Humanity.

* * *

"I've seen an Asari among the captives we saved from the Batarians that day, but wow there are so many of them here…" Hanami whispered to Jinn as the group looked around one of the Citadel's Wards.

Jinn nodded in agreement. "Well, they have apparently been the longest spacefaring species right now," he murmured as he looked around.

"And… there are a lot of styles of Asari suits, aren't there," Hanami noted with a sideways glance at a clothing store.

"Want to take a look?" Jinn questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not sure if it would be proper to do so," Hanami admitted with a slump of her shoulders. "We are technically on a diplomatic mission…"

"It should be fine, we were given some funds to do some shopping after all," Jinn pointed out. "Plus you can think of this as a cultural exchange."

"Cultural exchange through clothes shopping," Hanami giggled. "That's one way to put it… Fubuki-chan, want to come along?"

"I don't think I'd mind, but we'd bore the guys," Fubuki pointed out.

"Well… surprisingly there's a gun shop right next door," Dearka pointed out with a confused look. "Oddly enough…"

"Me in tight-fitting suits, or guns?" Fubuki directed a flat look at Dearka, though the corners of her mouth were twitching upwards slightly.

Dearka chuckled in amusement. "Well, you can just surprise me with what you get later," he pointed out. "Plus, it's not like they're much tighter than your pilot suit."

Stella giggled a bit. "Oh yes, her pilot suit is snug in _all_ the right places," she agreed. "But these will show off more of her nice and creamy flesh."

Fubuki's cheeks reddened as she pinched Stella's side discreetly. "Diplomatic mission, Stella…" she reminded in a low tone.

Stella grinned widely in response. "Which is why I haven't groped you yet," she noted cheekily. "Come on, let's go see if we can find something really sexy for us!"

"You know, I'm still amazed that you Human females resemble the Asari so much," Garrus muttered. "Minus the head fringes."

Yzak shrugged in response. "Who knows why," he questioned. "Evolution's a strange thing at the best of times."

"So… would they be considered attractive by Human standards?" Garrus jerked his head at the group of girls moving towards the clothing store, some dragging their significant others with them.

Yzak glanced at the group from the side of his eyes. "On the upper end, yes," he confirmed with a nod before shrugging. "Really depends on a person's taste though, humanity can be rather… eclectic when it comes to their taste."

"Perfectly understandable," Garrus agreed. "Once had to bring in an Asari that was stalking Hanar around the Citadel. Some people have strange tastes."

"Sounds like a pain," Yzak commented with a raised eyebrow.

"C-Sec work's a pain overall, especially having to deal with all the bureaucratic red tape that gets in the way of the job," Garrus grumbled. "But anyway, I'm not here to complain about my job. That gun shop you're looking at has a good selection, but the prices are jacked up a little. I'll show you a better place later."

Yzak chuckled in response. "Of course the cop would know where the good gun shops are at," he joked with a grin.

"C-Sec gear's not exactly the best," Garrus admitted with a chortle. "I've had to fiddle with their guns for too long to get them working just right for me… please don't tell Executor Pallin I did that, he'll have my ass for 'modifying public property that doesn't belong to us'."

"Tell him what?" Yzak replied with a grin. "You were just suggesting mods based on observation rather than experience."

"Well anyway, I get my own gear whenever I can," the Turian chuckled as he gestured towards a nearby cafe. "How about some Citadel food? I can't give any proper recommendations, though I hear from my levo-protein colleagues that that place isn't half bad."

"Some food sounds good," Dearka commented in agreement. "I'm sure Hanami will be ecstatic to experience new ingredients."

"She's always eager to try out new food," Nicol glanced over at the shop the girls had entered. "I'm heard she's been experimenting with dextro food lately… for the Quarians."

"Which is hard for her, because she can't taste test it herself," Yzak commented with a shrug. "She has press ganged one of the Quarian recruits into her kitchen staff to help out."

"That's one dedicated cook you have," Garrus remarked with another look over at the shop.

"By the way… I think the press broke free of your colleagues," Nicol directed a sideways look at the small posse of press following them around with camera drones snapping pictures.

Dearka sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "No matter where you go, paparazzi is the same," he groaned.

"Makes me wonder how the Admiral is doing on his side, since he's the more important diplomat by far," Sai muttered, shifting slightly uncomfortably.

"I'll go chase them off," Garrus sighed, standing up. "Just order anything you feel like trying from the levo menu, I'll pay when I get back."

"Sounds good," Yzak sighed as he sat down at a table. "Good luck with the vultures."

* * *

"So, your species had their own civil wars, hm?" James questioned Primarch Fedorian as the pair of them walked through the Presidium, their respective guards keeping a respectable distance from them as they talked, sharing their histories with one another.

"Indeed, they were bloody and across many planets," Fedorian admitted with a small sigh. "But, we survived as a species and came out of it stronger and better."

James nodded respectfully. "It is always the best to learn from our mistakes," he agreed. "I made one when I was leading my country, and I will be doing my best to not repeat it."

Fedorian nodded in respect. "In light of that, perhaps there are things we can learn from one another," he offered in suggestion, getting a speculative look from James. "From my understanding, your military doesn't make use of Dreadnaughts, while my own doesn't make much use of carriers, perhaps our engineers could put their minds together."

James hummed in thought as he stroked his chin in response to the suggestion. "It would be good to show that we are burying the hatchet," he commented before noticing Fedorian's confused expression. "A turn of phrase, it means we are trying to make peace."

Fedorian made a sound of understanding as his flanges moved a bit. "I see, and I can agree with that," he informed with a nod. "You are agreeable to it? What about your leaders?"

James shrugged in response. "I think they would be agreeable," he commented musingly. "There would be some tech we won't be as willing to share… like our beam weapons, or Positron Cannons."

"Of course," Fedorian agreed, giving him what James assumed to be a Turian smile. "We won't be sharing everything ourselves after all."

James chuckled in amusement. "Of course," he said in amusement. "If you don't mind me asking, how is the security in Council Space?"

Fedorian shifted a bit in response. "In the Inner Council space, our security is tight, but… the fringes of Council Space aren't as secure as we wish for them to be," he admitted with a Turian equivalent to a frown. "My species provides the bulk of the protection for Council Space, but we are stretched thin, and the Asari and Salarians are… nevermind."

James hummed in response, filling in the blanks, but not commenting on it. "And would five fleets be able to make a difference?" he questioned after a period of consideration, getting a surprised look from the Primarch. "We do have plenty of ships, and even more crews with the addition of the Quarians into our own Council, all of them experienced and trained, I think we can spare that many to assist in the defense of our soon to be allies."

"It… would make a difference," Fedorian agreed after several moments. "But it would not be just my decision of course."

"Of course," James agreed quickly. "I am just putting the offer out there."

Kira chuckled to herself from where she was walking nearby, amused by the fact that the two soldiers seemed to be getting more done than most politicians.

* * *

Life had a strange way of throwing him curveballs it seemed, concluded one Saren Arterius as he stared out of the viewport window of the cruiser he was stationed on. He looked out towards the Citadel, or more precisely some of the ships docked at the Citadel.

The Turian vessel, which wasn't present at the Siege of Shanxi, had been tasked with ferrying select survivors of the battle for debriefing at the station by the Primarch himself. For the survivors, the sight of the ships that forced their retreat was a frustrating thing, even if they didn't agree with the orders, they still did feel the sting of defeat strongly.

Saren, on the other hand, was curious. While his family and training did teach him discipline, his brother had also taught him to look at things with a dispassionate eye, and that eye was telling him that these Humans could be a _very_ good thing, or a _very_ bad thing.

Saren frowned as he looked out at the ships docked at the Citadel in military berths. In all honesty, despite their… _poor_ initial meeting, the Humans had earned a certain level of respect from the Turians. After all, it wasn't very often that the Turians were pushed back when they went on the offensive.

If the Turians played their cards right… it was possible for them to gain a powerful ally in this 'Sol Council'. While they _were_ represented on the Citadel Council, it wasn't exactly as equal as everyone believed it to be. The Salarians and Asari had been allies for a long time before the Turians came onto the scene, not to mention them having to pick up the majority of the burden of protecting Citadel Space, leaving them stretched thin when it came to their fleets and soldiers.

What the Turians, and the Galaxy by extension needed, was another race who would be able to help them shoulder the burden of protecting Citadel Space. And, even with their strange - to them - tactics, they may have just found them in the Humans. While it was true that they didn't have _any_ dreadnoughts like a proper Turian Fleet, their weapons, and… Mobile Suits, easily filled the gap that the massive ships left. If they were to integrate into a Turian Patrol Fleet… the possibilities would be endless.

But that could only be wishful thinking on Saren's part, because it all depended on how negotiations went. If the Humans were too aggressive, that would cause the Turians to push back out of instinct, and if they were too passive, the Asari and Salarians would bring them to heel to the point where they would be nearly useless.

It would all depend on their diplomats and decision makers in the end.

Letting out a sigh, Saren turned away from the viewport and headed to his bunk. It was time to suit up.

* * *

 **END CHAPTER**


End file.
